Archive by Author: rhenry

(HOUSTON, TX) July 14, 2021 – Houston Center for Contemporary Craft is pleased to present Copy Culture: Zines Made and Shared, a celebration of the history, practice, and community of self-described “zinesters.” Zines, which are small circulation booklets created and distributed by individuals or small groups, are set apart from mainstream publishing by a lack of formal barriers to participation. For decades, zines have brought together and created space for marginalized, underrepresented, and dissident voices to share knowledge and find community. Copy Culture features zines and ephemera from Texas and beyond, inviting visitors to learn more by doing it themselves.

Born in the age of “snail mail,” zines now enjoy wide popularity and distribution online. Nevertheless, many zinesters still cite zine festivals as the best outlet for community, commerce, and connection. The co-founders of San Anto Zine Fest, Natasha I. Hernandez and Isabel Ann Castro, also produced the long-running submission-based zine, St. Sucia, which captured the complicated, beautiful reality of what 21st-century Latinx identity looks like through the eyes of its community of devoted fans, known as sucias. They write, “We are a space for gente who identify as mujer, in any way they choose to.” Continue reading. 

(HOUSTON, TX) July 2, 2021 — Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is thrilled to present In Residence: 14th Edition, an annual exhibition of work by its 2020 – 2021 resident artists. This exhibition features work in paper, metal, clay, fiber, and stone by Chloe Darke, Abbie Preston Edmonson, Hong Hong, Hillerbrand + Magsamen, Stephanie Robison, Michael Velliquette, and Kirstin Willders. HCCC Curatorial Fellow María-Elisa Heg notes, “The innovation, skill, and spirit of these artists embody what makes HCCC’s artist residency program so unique. This edition opens just before HCCC’s 20th anniversary, a milestone that marks the resiliency and vibrancy of this program.”

The contemplative works of Hong Hong and Michael Velliquette harness the versatility of paper in each artist’s distinctive approach to this ancient medium. Hong embraces the ephemerality of paper and the physical act of pouring pulp, creating large-scale pieces that change as they dry in the open air. Velliquette carefully researches and chooses paper stock that will hold up to his meticulous process of building mandala-like, architectural sculptures that draw the viewer into a meditative state. Continue reading.

(HOUSTON, TX) July 2, 2021 – This fall, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) presents Later, Longer, Fewer: The Work of Jennifer Ling Datchuk, an exhibition of blue-and-white porcelain sculptures, large-scale multimedia installations, and performance video that critiques the realities and contemporary perceptions of women’s access and liberation. Using Asian motifs that are common in blue-and-white porcelain, coupled with the design and material language of domestic objects and feminine beauty products, Jennifer Ling Datchuk elevates stories of silent sisterhood and feminist perspectives while exposing systematic inequities that continue to stifle women’s progress.

As a Chinese American woman, Datchuk delves into the complicated and sometimes overwhelming aspects of growing up in a blended family. She states, “My work has always been an exploration of my layered identity–as a woman, a woman of color, an ‘American,’ and as a third-culture kid.” Continue reading

(HOUSTON, TX) March 30, 2021 – This summer, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) proudly presents Suited Up: Contemporary Armor Making in Texas. The exhibition, featuring suits of armor inspired by historical re-enactments and iconic pop-culture warriors, explores the extraordinary craftsmanship behind armor making in the Lone Star State. Showcasing everything from traditional metalwork and leatherwork to 3D-printed and innovative do-it-yourself suits, the works on view exemplify the vibrant and diverse spectrum of fantastical armorers in Texas. Their handmade attire, often fashioned from favorite media figures or historical designs, represents an integral component of their practice.

Various communities of fantasy and re-enactment have kept age-old armor-making techniques alive, adding many unique chapters in recent years to the histories of these techniques. Self-taught William Brunson, of Dragon Heart Armory, produces historically inspired metal armor pieces, many of which have been used in real-life jousting tournaments at Renaissance festivals around the country. Based in Pottsboro, Brunson hand crafts every part of Dragon Heart Armory’s chainmail and metal armaments, producing pieces that are winsome, yet durable enough to take a beating while used in action on horseback. Continue reading.

Free Online Application Open through March 1, 2021

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) announces its application for the 2021 – 2022 Cycle (September 2021 – August 2022) of its Artist Residency Program is now open through March 1, 2021. This year, due to generous funding, there is no online application fee, and all artists working in craft media, including wood, glass, metal, fiber, clay, and mixed media, are encouraged to apply.

About the Artist Residency Program

For nearly 20 years, the Center’s artist residency program has offered time and space for craft artists to focus on their creative work and interact with the public. The program supports emerging, mid-career, and established artists working in all craft media.  Each year, artists apply from throughout the U.S. and beyond, and eight-to-ten artists are selected for a three-to-twelve-month residency. The juried selection is based on quality of creative work, ability to interact with the public, career direction, and program diversity. Accepted artists will be notified via e-mail in April.

Residents are required to have their studios open for at least two days each week, giving visitors the unique opportunity to walk in, ask questions, and watch them work. This deeper level of interaction between artists and visitors allows the public to learn about a range of craft processes and techniques and helps artists to gain exposure, make connections within the Houston community, and educate people of all ages about craft. Applicants should consider the public facing nature of the residencies and the fact that a major goal of the program is to provide visitors with an opportunity to explore contemporary craft through engagement with working artists. Continue Reading >

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is pleased to present Weave Houston: Celebrating 71 Years of the Contemporary Handweavers of Houston. Weave Houston showcases the history and diversity of Contemporary Handweavers of Houston’s membership, featuring works from emerging practitioners and longtime fiber artists. Noted fiber artist Dr. Mary Ruth Smith juried several awards for works that highlight exceptional craftsmanship and innovative use of materials.

The Contemporary Handweavers of Houston (CHH) was founded in 1949 as a chapter of the Contemporary Handweavers of Texas to provide a common meeting ground for weavers throughout the state. In its 70 years as a guild, the non-profit organization has promoted the education of and interest in handweaving and fiber-related crafts. This is accomplished through regular gatherings and demonstrations at schools, museums, and festivals throughout the Houston community, including the Livestock Show and Rodeo. CHH has an ongoing relationship with the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft and sponsors a scholarship for its resident artists who are weavers and demonstrate or lead activities at HCCC events.  Continue reading.

This spring, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) presents Forms of Inheritance: The Work of Anna Mayer, an exhibition of ceramic and bronze sculptures that explores humanity’s reckoning with mortality and demonstrates the fragility and fierceness of the natural world.

Anna Mayer’s social and sculptural practice explores the impact of humanity throughout geologic time, with a focus on the temporal relationship between humans and the land beyond an individual’s life span. Her work in the exhibition reflects deeply upon the realities of death and decay. Drawing upon a language of mourning and burial practices, she uses materials like raw clay and porcelain dinnerware to communicate a narrative of what remains when people die and what is left for others to inherit. By grinding pieces of dinnerware she inherited and mixing the bits with raw clay to give it a new texture and purpose, she creates sculptures that appear to seep and bubble-up from the ground. These ceramic works are juxtaposed with a pair of bronze hands and feet that are cast from a composite of Mayer’s own body, along with the fingers and toes of others from communities in Los Angeles and Houston, where the artist has lived. By combining attributes from different people to form a new body, Mayer identifies a need for a society that relies on the collective strength of individuals.  Continue Reading.

(HOUSTON, TX) October 13, 2020 – Houston Center for Contemporary Craft is pleased to present Meta-Formation: New Connections in Contemporary Blacksmithing. The exhibition showcases some of the best metalworkers in the field today, illustrating the magic of forged metal. The featured work, from sculpture to functional ware, exemplifies a diversity of artistic expression, while embracing approaches that go beyond traditional blacksmithing techniques.

Spearheaded by New Orleans-based metalworker and designer Rachel David of Red Metal, Meta-Formation first debuted at the Appalachian Center for Craft (Smithville, TN) in 2019. Jurors Andy Cooperman, Hoss Haley, and former HCCC Curatorial Fellow Sarah Darro selected works from an open call, giving preference to those that exhibited outstanding sculptural and design qualities. Continue reading.