“Power of Six Women in Art,” an art show featuring ceramic and glass work, opened in Seaver Gallery on Friday, Sept. 10. The exhibit will be displayed until Friday, Oct. 2 and features six female artists: Sue Keane, Yumi Kiyose, Porntip Sangvanich, Naomi Schoenherr, Anna Silver and Joan Takayama-Ogawa. The show was curated by Sangvanich.
According to visual arts department head Gina Woodruff, this art show, unlike previous ones, does not have an overarching theme. Sangvanich said that the works featured in the show were chosen to show Marlborough students the kind of artistic potential they could reach and to encourage them to break boundaries in art.
“We all have our own way of looking at things. We [see] what we want to make [from] inside our heads…We want to present what our thoughts are. I would like [Marlborough students] to see the potential they can reach in clay and glass,” Sangvanich said.
Woodruff explained that the purpose of the art show was to show the different range of approaches to clay and glass that could be learned over time.
“As an artist, you’re constantly learning new techniques…[the art show] shows people in different stages in their careers and how they are branching out in their [art].” Woodruff explained.
Sue Keane is a ceramics artist who works out of Venice, California. After a career in architectural design, Keane began to use clay to create sculptures and wall art. Her art includes highly decorative plates, fountains and abstract ceramic squares, designed to hang on walls.
Yumi Kiyose, an art instructor at Santa Monica college, works with glass. Many of her pieces take on an abstract, spiral shape and have a multitude of colors.
Porntip Sangvanich is a ceramics artist who is known for her distinctive style, characterized by geometric shapes. Her work may look familiar, as several of her pieces are hanging on the hallway entrance to Seaver. Sangvanich is featured in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and in the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.
Anna Silver is also known for her geometric ceramic pieces. Her work is included in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Her creations vary in vibrant colors and abstract shapes.
Naomi Schoenherr is a unique artist who focuses on the relationship between people and nature. Her pieces, which feature sculptures of insects, hang across from the ceramics room in Seaver.
Joan Takayama-Ogawa is a Professor of Product Design and Creative Action at the Otis College of Art and design. Her elaborate ceramic teapots are eye-catching components of the exhibit. Takayama-Ogawa, whose art is a blend of traditional Japanese styles with modern imagery, chooses to focus teapots because of their relationship to traditional Japanese culture.
“The art was elaborate and beautiful. It was truly the product of female creativity,” Cami Taylor ’17 raved after viewing the show.
