Wet and Leatherhard (Jan 7 – Feb 13 2010)

Lawrimore Project, Seattle WA

Clay and clay-like materials such as mud and plaster are highly malleable and responsive to touch. When the medium is wet, its plasticity registers each and every impression and gesture. When even wetter, the clay becomes a viscous slip, sensually covering the topography of the thing underneath. As it dries, the material reaches a stage of leatherhard, a term apt not only in its imitation of an old belt, but also in its ability to be carved, molded and worn down. In essence, clay is a reflection of behavior and action. Its shape and form is a record of its intimate discourse with the body. And up to this point, the raw material can be slaked down; what exists can be reversed and erased. This state of in-between—a sort of holding pattern—becomes a space where a material can be one thing and also become another, and this ambiguity and slipperiness of form is a potent metaphor. This exhibition is informed by these understandings, as these innovative and peripatetic artists channel the richness of their ideas through the material’s physical properties.

Sterling Ruby, Jim Melchert, Kristen Morgin, Meiro Koizumi, Tim Roda, Wynne Greenwood, Ben Waterman, Doug Jeck