The genesis of Legacy and Innovation in Contemporary Clay, was the desire of three area clay artists to showcase the work of other artists who served as significant influences in the development of clay as a fine art form after the Second World War. At the same time they wished to illustrate the work of contemporary artists who they saw as being the “inheritors” of these often radical teachers and aesthetic philosophies. As ideas developed, it seemed there were invited artists whose work has come to influence and epitomize the essential elements of work that followed; some whose work refined the artistic philosophies and techniques of the former; and still others who have learned, and completely absorbed, the techniques of their predecessors and are moving their own work to the very cutting edge of the medium. Often, these artists are producing works that could be included within all three of these generalities – a testament to their creative spirits and energy.

Image: Paul Soldner, Untitled, 2004, low-fired salt, 24x26x10 in., collection of the American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, California