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For John Oles, expression through clay starts with the initial contact. The natural contours of a potter’s hands and the first steps taken in each sculpture make each artist unique, he says.
Oles, a full-time studio artist who teaches at Tulane and Loyola universities, splits his time between developing work that can be used, such as plates and cups, and sculptures with an artistic flair.
“Initially, I was sort of a frustrated painter, and the idea of the useful object in the beginning was really a big motivating factor (for turning to clay), making objects that could enrich somebody’s life and could be part of somebody’s daily experience,” Oles says. “That sort of grew into using the language of the vessel in a more sculptural context, as far as bringing in sort of subliminal references to this figure and parts of the human body and surfaces that invite the hand to touch and explore these voluptuous forms.
“That kind of started to become influenced by a membrane or a skin like a ripe vegetable, the way folds in the skin create these central forms.”
Oles studied ceramics as an undergraduate at the University of Massachusetts. He moved to New Orleans shortly before Hurricane Katrina to attend graduate school at Tulane University. After being transplanted by the storm, Oles returned and has yet to leave.
Oles, who received the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Emerging Artist Award in 2010, says he is ready to share his work with students, throw clay in tea-bowl or whiskey-cup forms and start the process of developing one or two sculptural pieces on the Nicholls campus this month.
Oles is joined by Ken Baskins, assistant professor of art at McNeese University, a sculptor with a series of 20th Century artifacts and mechanical objects. Their workshop runs from 8:35 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 23.
Oles and Baskins were originally scheduled to demonstrate March 30, which is deemed Jubilee’s “Art Day.”
Dr. Julia Sienkewicz, assistant professor of art at Duquense University in Pittsburgh, begins Art Day at 10:45, March 30 with a lecture on “Benjamin Latrobe and the Early 19th Century New Orleans Architecture.”
A panel of Nicholls graduates holds a graphic design panel from 11:50 to 12:45 p.m., and four LSU photography students present their work from 11:50 a.m. to 1:50 p.m.
Randell Henry, professor of art at Southern University, concludes Art Day with a slide of his paintings. Henry, influenced by abstract expressionism, Cubism and African and Asian art, explores dreams through surrealistic images. He has been featured in galleries in New Orleans and Ghana.
Deborah Cibelli, professor of art at Nicholls, says Art Day and all Jubilee events are a great way for students to complement what they are learning in the classroom.
“They get to see professional artists creating work,” she says. “They can hear their thoughts and concepts, talk with working artists.”
– editor@gumboguide.com
Artwork by John Oles, who presents a workshop from 8:35 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 23 at Nicholls. Oles is joined by Ken Baskins, assistant professor of art at McNeese University.
