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Guest, Bryan Vansell of Mission Clay Company. Topic: Large scale ceramic sculpture and elements as part of the Arts and Industry Program.
Mission Clay Company
Joe Hawley was one of several well-known ceramic artists invited to work in collaboration with the Mission Clay Company, a company making underground clay pipes and other construction material. This invitation was the beginning of Art & Industry Workshops to produce a series of experimental sculptures using industrial equipment to create large-scale terra cotta sculptures and elements using stacked, extruded and penetrated terra cotta.
Photo by Harvey Morrison
Twister Series at Mission Clay Company
Giant Tiles at Kraft Tile
Wanting to explore less restrictive media to apply his artistic talent, Joe was able to convince Kraft Tile, a company manufacturing decorative home tiles, to open up their factory to Joe to delve into the possibilities of other uses for their equipment. Joe followed in their tradition to create spheres, mural s and columns from industrial murals.
Hollow Core Tiles
Hollow Core tiles used in construction launched Joe’s Hollow Core Tile Projects at Gladding McBean and Mission Clay, stacked and/or rounded.
Wiggle Series
Inspiration can be found anywhere and anytime – a banana slug and its movement and smooth body led to the Wiggle Series created over a period of time. Wiggles are created out of clay extrusions for all to enjoy.
The Process
Rubber
The Wiggle form merged from clay and morphed to rubber with a scale from 3’ to 15’ rubber inflatable shapes; later, turning into inner tube assemblages of inflatable tubes.
