Clay Art Center Presents Two Vigiles: Bruce Dehnert and Shawn O' Connor

Two Vigiles: Bruce Dehnert and Shawn O' Connor

Opening Reception: Saturday, August 2, 6 - 8pm

In Caesar Augustus' ancient Rome there were teams of men called “vigiles” whose mandate was to enter burned buildings in order to determine the cause of the blaze

Shawn will also be giving a workshop entitled Making Work for Wood-Firing August 2-3.

An exhibition featuring two potters who have distinctly different styles. This duo exhibition of wood fired utilitarian pottery and vessels will construct a cultural connection with our ancestors. Both artists utilize the random and considered effects that wood firing and flame have to offer as ways to realize and express their culturally relevant ceramic processes. Both artists will be present at the reception and will give a Gallery Talk at 7pm.

About the Artists:
Bruce Dehnert has a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Montana and a MFA in Ceramics from Alfred University. He has taught at Hunter College and Parsons School of Art and Design [New York City], The School of Art [New Zealand], the University Malaysia Sarawak [Malaysia], and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth [New Bedford].

A three time Fletcher Challenge International Ceramics Award winner, Dehnert has received numerous awards including a New Jersey Artist Fellowship, the Settlor Prize in Sculpture, and a Carnegie Premier Award for Works on Paper. He was also a finalist in the Robert Wood Johnson International Figurative Competition. His work is held in a number of museums and collections including The Crocker Museum [California], the Yixing Museum of Ceramic Art [China], The New Dowse Museum [New Zealand] and The White House [Washington, DC].

Dehnert has remained active as a writer having articles published in numerous journals including, Studio Potter, Ceramics Monthly, and Ceramics: Art and Perception and recently completed a book (Simon Leach’s Pottery Handbook] on Simon Leach for Abrams Publishing of New York.

Bruce lives at Peters Valley Craft Center where he is head of the ceramics program.



Shawn O’Connor was born and raised in Minot, ME and completed his BFA at the University of Southern Maine in 2005. After Undergraduate studies, Shawn went on to be a resident and staff member at Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, ME. He also completed a six-week residency at the Robert M. MacNamara Foundation on Westport Island, ME. In May of 2010, Shawn received his MFA in Ceramics from Syracuse University. The main focus of his research in graduate school revolved around wood firing. While at Syracuse Shawn designed and constructed a Train style wood kiln. He later went on to publish his first article about his kiln in the Log Book, an international Journal devoted to wood firing. Shawn completed a year long Artist-in-Residents at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, in Gatlinburg, TN in 2011. In 2012 traveled to China as a visiting artist for West Virginia University. Most recently Shawn was a visiting artist and adjunct professor at the University of North Dakota. www.shawnoconnorceramics.com

About his work and process, Shawn states: The work I make is tailored for the process of wood firing. During the making, I leave the surfaces of the work quiet and relatively unmarked to allow the flame to create modulated surfaces. I am interested in worn river rocks, the erosion of land, the old weathered farmhouse, and the rich colors of leaves as they change in the fall. These are all records of time, change, and decay. Similarly, my pieces are marked by the flame, colored by the kiln atmosphere, christened by ash deposits, and freckled by erupting impurities. As a result, no two pieces are exactly the same as the flames path records distinct marks on each piece. The rich, wood fired surface is much like the way wind and water erode rock and earth. The flame moves through the kiln, wrapping in and around the work, leaving a mark dependent on what is next to, touching, or above and below that particular piece. The path of the flame can be controlled when stacking the kiln. Great time and care is spent on each piece as it is loaded, as this will dictate the way the flame moves over and marks the surface of this piece.