2020 – Houston Center for Contemporary Craft

Kirstin Willders

Rene Henry — Thu, 17 Sep 2020 04:57:27 +0000

Kirstin Willders is a multi-disciplinary artist working in wheel-thrown ceramics, light, and mixed materials. Her work is concerned with structures, the sacred, the sublime, and the senses. She utilizes canonical architectural structure as an entry point to social structures, personal identity, and proprioceptive experience. Somatic presence and sensory engagement are also integral to her work. With a background in both ceramics and art history, Kirstin’s studio practice is rooted in material and historical research and has been significantly impacted by extended periods of time spent studying in Italy.

Kirstin received a BFA in ceramics and a BA in art history from Kent State University in 2012. She went on to earn an MA in Italian Renaissance Art History from Syracuse University’s graduate program in Renaissance Art in 2017. In 2020, she graduated from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University with an MFA in ceramic art. She was recently named one of 12 recipients of the 2020 Outstanding Student Achievement Award by the International Sculpture Center. Learn more about Kirstin’s work at www.kirstinwillders.com.

Hong Hong

Rene Henry — Thu, 17 Sep 2020 04:45:55 +0000

Hong Hong is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice sits at the intersection of craft, painting, and earthwork. Born in Hefei, China, she immigrated with her mother to North Dakota when she was 10 years old. Hong earned her MFA from University of Georgia in 2014 and her BFA from the State University of New York in 2011. Since then, Hong has traveled across the United States to make site-responsive monumental paper works. In her nomadic practice, traditional processes of Tibetan and Japanese papermaking coalesce with feminist rituals and performances.

Hong’s artwork has been exhibited at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Georgia Museum of Art, Real Art Ways, Penland School of Crafts, Madison Museum of Fine Art, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Jewett Arts Center, and New Mexico History Museum. Hong is the recipient of fellowships and grants from MacDowell, Yaddo, National Endowment for the Arts, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Vermont Studio Center, Center for the Arts at Wesleyan University, and Connecticut Office for the Arts. Her work has been reviewed by Art21, Artnet News, Hyperallergic, Art New England, Hand Papermaking, and Two Coats of Paint.

To learn more about Hong’s work, visit https://www.honghong.studio/.

Nicolle LaMere

HCCC — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 23:27:15 +0000

Nicolle LaMere is on a journey to know cosmos. LaMere works with ceramics and elemental materials to create sculptural objects and installations. Ideas pertaining to existence take the form of spheres and voids, via vessels. LaMere primarily works with molds and slip-dipped burnable materials. While in residence at HCCC, LaMere plans to spend her time expanding her current body of work, as well as exploring the utilization of translucent porcelain and lithophane techniques to create illuminated spaces expressing the divinity of environment.

LaMere spent her first 25 years in southern Wisconsin, on the fringe of suburbia and farmland. Having received a BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (2011), LaMere relocated to Lubbock, Texas, in 2014, to complete her MFA from Texas Tech University (2017). After graduation, she participated in the Land Art of the American West program, traveling over 6,000 miles and camping throughout Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. LaMere has completed multiple technical ceramic research grants, the most recent being the NCECA Graduate Student Fellowship (2015). LaMere is currently an art instructor at Art League Houston and maintains a studio at Box13 ArtSpace in Houston. To learn more about her work, visit www.nicollelamere.com.

Nicolle’s residency is generously underwritten by Sara and Bill Morgan.