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Exhibition | Intergalactica, Out of the Fire

March 7 - April 19

March 7 – April 19, 2025
Back Room Gallery

Opening, March 7th, 6 – 9pm
Artist Talk, March 15th, 11am

Free admission

 

Intergalactica, Out of the Fire, an installation of dozens of hand-built abstract ceramic sculptures by artist Jeff Whyman. The significant number of work exhibited collectively gives an air of ceremony and sacredness, activating the room with mysterious energy.

Whyman’s ceramics are inspired by earth found nature as well as galactic rock formations. The other-worldly creations include in their structure familiar vessels such as cups and vases and while the shapes are recognizable, the elements are altered with sagging, stretching, and misshapen areas. The artist’s process-based creation is highly influenced by the clay itself. The wet clay – porcelain and stoneware – leads the way of the artist’s hands, adding pieces spontaneously in the moment. In the assembly process Whyman often adds materials such as sea glass, Chinese crystals, mineral oxides, metal nails, and wood ash. The combined shapes and materials create new vessels that call to mind stalagmites and space rock. Using both wood and soda fire processes in the kiln, the works are marked with unique colorations not revealed until extracted from their firing place. Intergalactica, Out of the Fire activates the space with an air of ceremony, sacredness, and mystery.

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Jeff Whyman is a south Florida based multi-disciplinary artist working in ceramics, steel sculpture, and oil painting. Born in St. Louis in 1953, he studied ceramics at the Kansas City Art Institute and has been exhibiting his work since 1976. While studying, he was highly influence by his prolific teachers and by Peter Voulkos, an artist known for abstract expressionist ceramic sculptures. He and Voulkos had in common their first art expression being painting, their discovery of a feeling for clay, and their move to metal sculpture as a means to larger scale. It was Voulkos who urged Whyman to return to clay after years of concentrating on steel.
Whyman’s south Florida based home studio houses hundreds of ceramic works, with more being created each day. This consistent act of creation by the artist is a calling. Meditative in nature, Whyman creates what the clay inspires.
Whyman has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows around the United States, and has work in many public and private collections. He attended the University of California, Berkeley for his M.A. and M.F.A., after attending Kansas City Art Institute for his B.F.A. Whyman has also participated in dozens of residencies and workshops both as instructor and participant.

 

Details

Start:
March 7
End:
April 19
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