As part of its 10th anniversary, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) presents Crafting Live(s), the first alumni exhibition of its Artist Residency Program. This show celebrates the relatively short, yet rich, history of the program, which was the motivating force behind the institution’s founding in 2001. Since then, more than 70 artists have graced the halls and studios of the facilities, bringing a dynamic energy to the field of craft and the art of making in Houston.
Approximately 35 former artists-in-residence chose to participate in the exhibition, working with guest curator, Keelin Burrows, Windgate Charitable Foundation Curatorial Fellow at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. For the show, the former residents were encouraged to create new work reflecting their current creative practices and body of work. Some artists created pieces that reflect upon their experiences as residents at HCCC and others present objects made in the past two years that are representative of their current method of making.
Crafting Live(s) features a wide variety of forms, including installation, sculpture, video, functional and nonfunctional objects. All of the craft media, including clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood and mixed media, are represented. Some of the themes that emerge in the show are cross-cultural exchange, gender and the body, nature and the built environment, and historical and cultural traditions revived. Works of particular note are Forked Tongue, an “in-the-round” installation of mixed media on paper by Anila Quayyum Agha; Abandoned, a site-specific installation by ceramic artist Jeff Forster; Runners-Up Presidential Plate Series by Darryl Lauster; new works in leather by jewelry artist Masumi Kataoka; and an installation by Tara Conley. Some of the other standouts in the show include pieces by Elaine Bradford, Gabriel Craig, Michael Crowder, Sharbani Das Gupta, Edward Lane McCartney, Thomas Perry, Pamela Sager, and Amy Weiks.
Above: Amy Weiks, Swarm. Wood, beads, waxed linen and walnut. Elaine Bradford, Golden Sparkle in His Eye. Mixed media. Tom Perry, Dotaku: Hinata/Sunshine. Clay. Photos by Jack Zilker.
