TIM ROWAN: Artist Statement





		EDUCATION 1999 M.F.A., The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 1992-1994 Apprenticeship, Ryuichi Kakurezaki, Bizen, Japan 1992 B.F.A., State University of New York, New Paltz, NY SELECTED EXHIBITIONS 2007 NEW WORK- SOLO EXHIBITION, Cavin-Morris Gallery, New York, NY FIRE AND ASH, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA REPSHER AND ROWAN, Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, NM MARK OF FIRE, Baltimore Clay Works, Baltimore, MD MADE IN CLAY, Greenwich House Pottery, New York, NY TIM ROWAN CERAMICS, Art Sites, Riverhead, NY THE NEW AESTHETICS OF CERAMICS, Huntington University, Huntington, IN CLAY-WOOD-FIRE, Chemeketa Community College, Salem, OR SOFA, Lacoste Gallery, New York, NY YUNOMI INVITATIONAL, Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA TABLETOPS, Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences, Loveladies, NJ UNADORNED, Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, NM 2006 THE SIMPLE CUP, Kobo, Seattle, WA NEW YORK CERAMICS FAIR, Cavin-Morris Gallery, New York, NY EARTHENWARE, Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, NM MY FRIENDS: THEIR VISION, Weber Fine Art, Greenwich, CT SOFA, Lacoste Gallery, Chicago, IL SOFA, Lacoste Gallery, New York, NY ARCHITECTURAL ECHOES IN CLAY, The Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design, Hendersonville, NC FIRE/ASH/SMOKE, Adrian College, Adrian, MI THE FIRE THIS TIME, Cavin-Morris Gallery, New York, NY TEA BOWL INVITATIONAL, Hardman Hall Gallery, Mercer University, GA GENERATIONAL CROSSROADS, Lacoste Gallery, Concord, MA LA MESA, Sante Fe Clay, Portland, OR 2005 AT THE BRAY, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR MINIMAL/IST, Archer Gallery, Clark College, Vancouver, WA NCECA 2006, Art Stream Nomadic Gallery, Portland, OR 2005 TIM ROWAN SOLO EXHIBITION, Lacoste Gallery, Concord, MA JAPAN/USA, Sante Fe Clay, Sante Fe, NM VOICES IN CERAMICS, Yager Museum, Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY 30 X 5, Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA UNEARTHED, Catskill Mountain Foundation, Hunter, NY PLATTERS AND PLATES, Chester Springs Studio, Chester Springs, PA COMING HOME, Stancills Clay, Perryville, MD VANITAS: TRANSIENT TREASURES, Lacoste Gallery, Concord, MA 13 + 1, Works Gallery, Philedelphia, PA CUPS, CUPS, CUPS, Sante Fe Clay, Sante Fe, NM CLAY, Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, New Orleans, LA SOFA, Lacoste Gallery, New York, NY TIM ROWAN ABSTRACT VESSELS, Catonsville Community College, Baltimore, MD PORCELAIN IN THE ANAGAMA, Merideth Gallery, Baltimore, MD CULTURING SURFACES, Homewood House Museum, Baltimore, MD BOX, Sante Fe Clay, Santa Fe, NM 2004 FOUR AMERICAN ARTISTS, Judith Dowling Asian Art, Boston, MA RAW, Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, NM NAKED TRUTH, Sinclair Gallery, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA POTTERY INVITATIONAL, Old Church Cultural Center, Demarest, NJ THE BEAUTY OF USEFULNESS, Gallery on the Green, Shelburne, VT POTTERS GOLD, Belskie Museum, Closter, NJ ANAGAMA FIRED, Trax Gallery, Berkeley, CA 4th GENERATION, Hunter College Art Gallery, New York, NY UNEARTHED, McGowen Fine Art, Concord, NH POTTERY INVITATIONAL, Worcester Center for Crafts, Worcester, MA THE FIRE WITHIN, Seton Gallery, University of New Haven, New Haven, CT SOFA, Lacoste Gallery, New York, NY 2003 POTTERY INVITATIONAL, Old Church Cultural Center, Demarest, NJ VESSELS, Bachelier-Cardonsky Gallery, Kent, CT CLAY AND GLASS, Atrium Gallery, Corning Community College, Corning, NY INTERNATIONAL TEA BOWL EXHIBITION, NAU Art Museum, Flagstaff, AZ PASSIONATE FIRE, Germaine Keller Gallery, Garrison, NY RECENT CERAMICS, Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA ABSTRACTIONS IN CLAY, Lacoste Gallery, Concord, MA NCECA CLAY NATIONAL, David Zafp Gallery, San Diego, CA 2002 HUDSON VALLEY POTTERY, The Byrne Gallery, Middleburg, VA POTTERY INVITATIONAL, Old Church Cultural Center, Demarest, NJ PASSIONATE FIRE, Germaine Keller Gallery, Garrison, NY FEATURED ARTIST, Albert Shahinian Fine Art, Poughkeepsie, NY FACES OF FIRE , Vermont Clay Studio, Waterbury Center, VT 2001 ASHES TO ART, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA 25 SELECT 25, Lill Street Gallery, Chicago, IL ABSTRACTIONS, Art Sites, Greenport, NY INAUGURAL FIRING, Solo exhibition, Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY 2000 NATURAL MATERIALS, University Art Gallery, Central Michigan University BEYOND THE BODY: ARCHITECTURAL CERAMICS, Lacoste Gallery, Concord, MA 1999 WOODFIRED NATIONAL, Studiolo, Iowa City, IA SERENDIPITY: THE MAGIC OF WOODFIRED CERAMICS, Lill Street Gallery, Chicago, IL NATIONAL CRAFTS 1999, Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, PA 1998 STRICTLY FUNCTIONAL POTTERY NATIONAL EXHIBITION, Market House Craft Center, Ephrata, PA DOMESTIC POTTERY, The Hand and the Spirit, Scottsdale, AZ 1997 CERAMICS USA, University of North Texas, Denton, TX DOMESTIC POTTERY, Group Invitational, Joanne Rapp Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ USA CRAFT TODAY 97, Silvermine Guild Gallery, New Canaan, CT NEW WORK, Two Person Exhibition, Klay Gallery, Nyack, NY ALUMNI ART 1997, College Art Gallery, New Paltz, NY FEATURED ARTIST, Gallery Szent-Gyorgi, Falmouth, MA RESIDENT SHOW, Pewabic Pottery Gallery, Detroit, MI 1996 A TOAST TO LIFE, Gallery Dai Ichi Arts, New York, NY CRAFT ARTIST EXHIBITION, Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, NY 1995 CRAFTS NATIONAL 29, Zoller Gallery, University Park, PA FEATS OF CLAY, Merit Award, Lincoln Arts, Lincoln, CA STRICTLY FUNCTIONAL POTTERY NATIONAL EXHIBITION, Honorable Mention, Market House Craft Center, Lancaster, PA PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 2007 Visiting Artist, University of North Texas, Denton, TX Visiting Artist, Greenwich House Pottery, New York, NY 2006 Visiting Artist, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA Visiting Artist, University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT Artist in Residence, Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT 2005 Visiting Artist, Hurricane Mountain Center for Earth Arts, Keene, NY Artist in Residence, Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT Visiting Artist, Kingsborough Community College, Brooklyn, NY 2004 Panelist- Naked Truth: International Woodfire Conference, Cedar Rapids, IA 2003 Panel Discussion- moderator Roger Lipsey, Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY Visiting Artist, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA Visiting Artist, Solano College, CA 2002 “Emerging Talent from the United States,” Lecture by Judith S. Schwartz, PhD, International Academy of Ceramics, Athens, Greece 2000-2002 Instructor- Greenwich House Pottery, New York, NY 1999-2001 Adjunct Professor of Art, SUNY, New Paltz, NY 1999 Panelist- Different Stokes: Woodfire Conference, Iowa City, IA Instructor- Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY 1997-1999 Graduate Assistant Instructor- Penn State University 1996-1997 Instructor- Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, MI Artist-in-Residence, Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, MI 1996 Instructor- Design and Construction of Anagama Kiln, SUNY, New Paltz, NY 1990-1992 Studio Assistant, Jeff Shapiro, Accord, NY PUBLICATIONS 2006 Tojiro, Volume 48 The Studio Potter, 'Using Local Clay', Vol. 34 No. 2 Ceramics Art and Perception, 'Generational Crossroads', No.63 2005 Ceramics Art and Perception, High-Fire Glazes, John Britt, Lark Books, NY, NY 2004 American Craft, Portfolio, October/November 2003 The New York Times, 'Passionate Fire 2003', December 7 Ceramics Art and Perception, 'Passionate Fire', No.53 Ceramics Monthly, 'Woodfiring in the Hudson Valley', September Ceramics Technical, 'Passionate Fire', No.16 2002 Kerameiki Techni, 'The New Generation of Ceramic Artist', No. 41 Clay Times, Gallery, July/August Ceramics Monthly, 'Tim Rowan', February, Vol. 50 Ceramics Art and Perception, 'Tim Rowan a Potter Taking a Stand', No.47 1997 Clay Times, Gallery, Summer Ceramics Monthly, 'Up Front', November, Vol. 45 ARTIST'S STATEMENT My art work flows from a basic desire to find and create meaning in my life. It is fueled by questions I ask myself concerning the realities I am confronted with. There is one thing that we know for certain- we will die. No manner of conceptual, abstract, or analytical thought can conceal this fact of our existence. No faith or belief in what follows can deny the reality that as biological organisms eventually our bodies will no longer be “alive”. We cannot escape the forces of time. In this highly technological and capitalist society our perception of time has been radically affected. Time has been measured and fragmented into smaller and smaller increments. It has been broken up, bound, categorized, and commodified. What is the impact of this on society and the individual? What is our relationship with time? These questions which form an important aspect of my art work, are manifested in three main areas; process, tradition, and form. Process is essential to my work and begins with the medium of clay itself. Investigating and using clays from the local area locates me in a specific place and serves to bring to my awareness time as manifest in the moment. Working with raw clay and prospecting in the natural environment serves to keep me in tune with an earth centered and geologic time. The forming process, working on multiples and repetitively, is not unlike growth in nature. Clay must be worked at its own pace as its moisture is slowly evaporating regardless of the demands from outside. Firing functions in a similar way. The wood kiln must be slowly stoked for 7 days if the work is to be successfully transformed from clay to cultural artifact. Tradition is the natural growth of culture through time. It is not static but rather in continuous evolution. I continually look to the past with respect in my work in order to appreciate how we have developed as a society. I directly and indirectly reference work of the past that has something valuable to tell me. We continually move in a cyclical direction and cannot divorce our selves of prior experience. The forms that my work take on are simple. They rely on a minimum amount of information and detail. They are constructed with a language of subtly, understatement, and restraint. In contrast to the majority of objects and images that we are bombarded with in our contemporary society they do not easily stand out or compete for attention and in this respect require the viewer to actively slow down. They have the capacity to be engaging on different levels and this is best accomplished when one allows the work to reveal itself over time. Utilitarian objects also require physical participation, such as drinking a cup of tea. These rituals of use are also embodiments of time. When I experience real joy I am aware of my mortality and the preciousness of the moment.