The Shaping of Us: Queerness in Ceramics

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION:
Curated in partnership with Andy Shaw, Associate Professor of Ceramic at LSU, The Shaping of Us: Queerness in Ceramics, on view August 3–October 22, 2023, explores personal and sexual identity, societal pressures, and issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community as related through the perspective of two diverse artists, Joseph Kraft and Heather Mae Erickson. The exhibition was inspired by the idea of using ceramics as a catalyst for dialogue, a means to raise awareness, and an opportunity to draw disparate communities together. Erickson and Kraft each bring their own unique histories and perspectives to the project, with the resulting artworks representing two very personal stories and responses to how their respective identities drive their artistic research, production, and aesthetic.

In preparation for the show, Kraft and Erickson were tasked with creating new and unique work, with each allotted approximately twenty-eight linear feet in the gallery. While they were directed to respond artistically to the societal and personal pressures associated with their gender identity, incorporating ceramics as their main media was the only defined restriction. The finished works represent a personal journey and give viewers an intimate view into the values, philosophies, and histories that represent them as individuals.

Kraft lives and works in Chicago, Illinois. While his artistic practice is rooted in clay, he has expanded his use of media to include drawing and printmaking as complementary vistas for his ceramic illustrations. He masterfully translates two-dimensional lines into three-dimensions utilizing an extrusion technique. Paired with brightly-colored block prints of male figures undertaking daily activities, the tableaux relay a sense of whimsy, action, and delicate intimacy.

Erickson, Assistant Professor and Ceramics Area Coordinator for Western Carolina University in North Carolina, and Kraft’s former professor at Alfred University, focuses her research and artistic production on studio art practice, with emphasis on reaching audiences beyond her workspace and community. To this end, she conceives methods for story-sharing and reflection by empowering students to develop projects that benefit others, a practice she boldly achieves through her own artwork. Erickson is the founder of Pride Pots: Community Conversations, a community-building art experience centered around hard conversations on LGBTQ+ issues and controversies.

Aligning with LSU’s Roadmap to Diversity, the University’s 2020 strategic plan to accomplish diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI), the Museum has developed unique collaborative programming in consultation with LSU Residential Life, the LSU LGBTQ+ Faculty and Staff Caucus, and Baton Rouge Pride. The free opening reception and panel discussion, Gender Identity and Social Constructs, is on Friday, September 1, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. in the museum.

Upcoming Lectures and Programs

LSU MOA Installation

Exhibition Lenders & Sponsors

The Shaping of Us is funded in part by the LSU Provost’s Fund for Innovation in Research.

We would like to thank the generous donors to the Annual Exhibition Fund: The Imo N. Brown Memorial Fund in memory of Heidel Brown and Mary Ann Brown; The Alma Lee, H. N., and Cary Saurage Fund; Charles “Chuck” Edward Schwing; Robert and Linda Bowsher; and The Newton B. Thomas Family/Newtron Group Fund.

PRIDE POTS ORGANIZATIONAL PARTNERS

LGBTQ ARCHIVE

The Western Carolina University LGBTQ Archive: Jackson County Collection was established with the collection of Western North Carolina drag performer

Sarah Steiner, head of research and instruction services and associate professor, Hunter Library. Dr. Travis A. Rountree, and Dr. Erin Callahan, joined Steiner to expand the archive with the help of WCU undergraduate students. Students in Dr. Rountree‘s Writing and Critical Theory courses have collected oral narratives from many WCU students, faculty, staff, and community members. Steiner, along with student research assistant, Sarah DeArmon, have archived and transcribed these histories plus other local artifacts that will be included in the digital archive hosted by Hunter Library.

For more information about the Western Carolina University LGBTQ Archive: Jackson County Collection or to get involved with this project, please contact Sarah Steiner at sksteiner@wcu.edu.

BLUE RIDGE PRIDE ARCHIVE

We are a community-based oral history and physical artifacts archive dedicated to preserving LGBTQIA+ history of the South. The archive offers community training workshops (where you learn how to do oral history interviews), produces a variety of educational media (from K–12 lesson plans to historical walking tours), and hosts community outreach events for intentional gathering among LGBTQIA+ communities. Our Lives. Our Stories. Our Way.

In the state of North Carolina, west of Asheville, little LGBTQ activism has been done. The work done by Western Carolina teachers and students planted the seeds for other community organizations to grow. We collected these voices and how they inspired the formation of three local LGBTQ community organizations. Pride Pots connected with Pride events in the region to add an aspect of art-making to the archive work. These collections and events not only act as remembrances for the voices of the past but work as recursive intersections of activism that influence each other and provide community visibility and support for LGBTQ identities in the Western North Carolina region.

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