California Handmade: State of the Arts 2015

A
CALIFORNIA HANDMADE:
STATE OF THE ARTS
2015

CALIFORNIA
HANDMADE
STATE OF THE ARTS
June 7, 2015 – January 2, 2016
This catalog is published in conjunction with “California Handmade: State of the Arts,”
an exhibition of innovative sculpture, furniture, textiles, jewelry, and decorative arts
by 84 visionary California artists. The exhibition is co-presented by Craft in America
and the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts, and exhibited at the
Maloof’s Jacobs Education Center Gallery from June 7, 2015 – January 2, 2016.
www.craftinamerica.org
www.malooffoundation.org
Printed by Susan Ross Printing
Designed by Stacie Martinez
Typeface Gahndi Sans by Librerias Gandhi S.A. de C.V.
Typeface Lato by tyPoland
© 2015 Craft in America, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ISBN 978-0-692-56367-0
A publication of Craft in America in partnership with the
Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts
Text by Emily Zaiden
Images:
Pg. 4-5 Dorothy Yule, Memories of Science detail, pg. 25
Pg. 6-7 Sunshine Cobb, Rock Cup detail, pg. 98
Pg. 8-9 Aya Oki, Plump detail, pg. 38-39
Pg. 10-11 Laura Mays, Facet Boxes detail, pg. 80-81
Pg. 12-13 Sandra Enterline, Diamond Web Necklace detail, pg. 118
Pg. 14-15 The Haas Brothers, Unique Hex Stool detail, pg. 77
Pg. 16-17 Christy Matson, Triangles in Pink, Red, Black and Tan detail, pg. 82-83
Pg. 18-19 John Cederquist, Architectural Elements – Drapery Series detail, pg. 114-115

CONTENTS
10 PREFACE
● Jim Rawitsch
12 FOREWORD
● Carol Sauvion
14 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
16 INTRODUCTION
● Emily Zaiden
OBJECT ENTRIES
● Written by Emily Zaiden
20 UNCONVENTIONAL APPROACHES: EXPERIMENTATION
WITH PROCESS, MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY
30 SKIN AND BONES: FORMING THE BODY
42 THE STATE OF THE UNION: CRAFTING POLITICAL
EXPRESSION
56 THE MEANING OF PLACE: CALIFORNIAN LANDSCAPE
AND THE NEO-ROMANTIC
66 RISING TIDES: FLUID FORMS AND WATER AS MOTIF
74 THE CALIFORNIA LIFESTYLE NOW
86 FROM THE EARTH: ECO-SENSITIVE REPURPOSING
AND REGENERATION
94 THE ADVANCEMENT OF FUNCTIONAL CRAFT
TRADITIONS: INFUSING BEAUTY INTO THE EVERYDAY
WORLD
104 MATERIAL PURSUITS: VIRTUOSITY IN CRAFT
112 TROMPE L’OEIL CRAFT: VISUAL PLAY, PUNS AND
PROVOCATIONS
124 STORYTELLING, IMAGINATION AND THE
EVOCATIVE NARRATIVE
134 INDEX
136 PHOTO CREDITS
6 7

8 9

PREFACE
An East Coast curator told me recently of returning disappointed from a conference in
Europe. “I didn’t meet a single person under fifty years old who was interested in
craft,” she said. I think she should have visited California.
Since work began more than a year ago on California Handmade: State of the Arts,
we’ve discovered tremendous energy coming from a new generation of artists
across the Golden State. With participation as well from master artists already well
known for their imaginative and innovative work, we have been able to bring
together a truly exquisite exhibition—and this catalog—as clear evidence of a
thriving community of artists.
With this work, we build proudly on the legacy of Sam Maloof, as an artist and
maker of craft to be sure, but also as an avid collector of the handmade, and as
someone who, with Alfreda beside him, so appreciated artists for their bright eyes,
skillful hands and playful spirits.
We are deeply appreciative of our partners at Craft in America. Founder and
Executive Director Carol Sauvion has shared with us all her great curiosity for, and
knowledge of, the handmade. We especially thank Craft in America Center Director
Emily Zaiden, who worked tirelessly to fill the gallery with art and artists and with a
curator’s eye, to illuminate so thoughtfully our understanding. We thank as well
longtime Maloof board member John Scott, whose passionate devotion to the
cause added immeasurably to the results, and exhibition designer John Fleeman and
his team, whose fine work is likewise appreciated.
In addition to all those acknowledged elsewhere, we are grateful to the generous
benefactors who have made it possible to publish this exhibition catalog: Dr. and
Mrs. Joseph Unis—Joe and Georgette—great friends of The Maloof who, by their
support, demonstrate their deep passion for art, artists, and education; and John
Scott, who has been an enthusiastic advocate for producing exhibition catalogs for
as long as anyone can remember.
Jim Rawitsch
Executive Director
Sam and Alfreda Maloof
Foundation for Arts and Crafts
10 11

FOREWARD
California is a vast state resplendent with natural beauty, inviting to artists who
wish to have unbridled freedom of expression. The crafts have been an essential
part of life in California from the Pomo Indians’ baskets to the Arts and Crafts
movement through to today, when artists are utilizing many forms and materials to
express their vision. California Handmade: State of the Arts honors California’s craft
traditions and introduces the work of the next generation of practitioners. Suggested
by Maloof Foundation Executive Director Jim Rawitsch, curated by Craft in
America Center Director Emily Zaiden with the participation of twelve “master
artists,” and envisioned by Maloof Board members Connie Ransom and John Scott,
the California Handmade exhibition is a record of the work being imagined and
realized now, in the second decade of the twenty-first century. We have evolved
as makers, but the intention to express, include, provoke and comment remains the
same.
How appropriate that the California Handmade exhibition is presented by the
Maloof Foundation and Craft in America, two contemporary organizations that
value and support the handmade. The Maloof Foundation is the result of Sam Maloof’s
lifelong dedication to the crafts and Beverly Maloof’s dedication to Sam’s legacy.
We at Craft in America, with the mission to promote and advance original handcrafted
work through programs in all media, owe a debt of gratitude to Sam, who
welcomed us to his new home in 2001 to film a sample episode of our documentary
series. Sam then participated in the first episode of Craft in America, which aired
on PBS in 2007. Eight years later, his spirit of inclusiveness and his quest for
excellence are qualities we continue to nurture in our documentary series and
ancillary projects.
This catalog is a lasting record of the objects and artists who participated in
California Handmade. In it we have followed the inspiration of Eudorah Moore and
photographed objects in nature as Eudorah did for the California Design exhibition
catalogs of the early 1970s. Eudorah described herself as a protagonist for the
crafts. This catalog honors her vision, displaying many of the objects out of doors,
in the magnificent garden planted by Beverly Maloof with the help of dedicated
volunteers in the generous spirit of the crafts.
California Handmade opened in June of 2015 with a reception that drew artists and
appreciators from every corner of California. We rejoiced at being together to
witness the vitality of the artists and the crafts in California. To see generations of
makers join in celebration is a perfect way to understand the power of art. We at
Craft in America are grateful to the Maloof Foundation for the opportunity to
present a lasting documentation of that celebration in this catalog.
Carol Sauvion
Executive Director
Craft in America
12 13

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We must first acknowledge all of the artists who have contributed to the exhibition
California Handmade: State of the Arts, creating a vital, provocative, well-crafted and
unique survey of California craft now. You increase our understanding of the field in
this era of technology. You honor the individual and form a new community through
your participation.
From the Maloof Foundation, we extend deepest thanks to the following individuals:
Longtime Maloof Board member John Scott and Maloof Board President Connie
Ransom, who helped at every juncture and kept us focused on the exhibition as it
reflected the Maloof philosophy; Beverly Maloof, for graciously hosting Madison Metro
and Sebastian Duncan-Portuondo when they spent days at the Maloof Foundation
photographing the exhibition objects in the glorious garden that Beverly envisioned
and brought to bloom. We thank Lindell Marsh, Maloof Foundation board member
for sharing his desire to truly represent contemporary thinking in the craft field. We
are grateful, too, for the photographic talents of Tom and Toni Bostick.
We also thank Linda Apodaca, Maloof registrar who handled transport and care of
the objects with utmost professionalism. Linda’s enthusiasm and energy propelled us
to the installation. Melanie Swezey-Cleaves, who swiftly generated a database for
efficiently cataloging the objects, brought her much-needed organizational skills to
the exhibition. We owe appreciation as well to exhibition designer John Fleeman and
his gifted team, who installed a fine presentation of objects that required sensitive
placement.
And finally, the heart of Maloof Woodworking, Ros Bock, who has kept the shop
organized and productive all the years while Sam was with us and now. Ros always has
time for everyone. She is dear to both Craft in America and the Maloof Foundation.
From Craft in America, we appreciate the special contributions of: Madison Metro,
our photographer, who saw these objects from a fresh perspective and captured
their spirit. Stacie Martinez, our Heroic graphic designer, whose talent and artistry
were absolutely invaluable. Sebastian Duncan-Portuondo, Craft in America Center
Coordinator, who has dedicated himself to the execution of the catalog in various
capacities for many months. Judy Hing, who has dedicated her time and served as our
deeply perceptive copy editor. John Maeda and Hannah Hawker, who designed the
California Handmade logo. Olivia Fales, who worked enthusiastically and creatively on
envisioning the exhibition early on. We thank the Craft in America production office:
Patricia Bischetti, Rosey Guthrie, Denise Kang and Beverly Feldman and the staff at
Freehand Gallery: Terry de Castro, Mary Oligny and Ruth Oglesby for their generous
assistance.
We are incredibly grateful to Rick Hosmer and Susan Ross Printing for their kindness in
helping to execute this project.
14 15

INTRODUCTION
This exhibition highlights the forward-thinking spirit of our state as embodied in
recent works of art made with virtuosity and profundity. These objects are the
outcome of dexterous manipulation and contemplative application of materials in
the service of personal expression and storytelling, infusing beauty into the world
and eliciting more meaningful ways of living. Ranging from the functional to the
purely sculptural, this collection of eighty-four objects is filled with revelations
about the evolving nature of craft and insights into what makes our culture tick.
While California craft and its practitioners defy categorization, these exemplary
works assert that experimentation, imagination and diversity of thought are thriving.
California Handmade: State of the Arts is a collaboration between The Maloof and
Craft in America that revives the spirit of the influential California Design exhibitions.
In those groundbreaking surveys, industrial design innovation and handcraft mastery
were paired together under the same spotlight. The California Design exhibitions
documented essential contributions by Californians to the then emerging Studio
Craft movement. Now, four decades after curator Eudorah Moore orchestrated the
last of those exhibitions, we stop to evaluate and celebrate our current artistic culture.
This new exhibition proudly features the work of several Studio Craft pioneers who
were participants in those original California Design exhibitions. These artists have
received national and international acclaim over the interim years while contributing
to the expansion of the field. Their consistent dedication to reinvention and relevancy
provides a model for those who have started their practices more recently and
who will ideally have a similar legacy.
As a launching point for this show, we relied upon the input of twelve core artists
(signified with a ● throughout the catalog) from across the state to identify other
artists in their specific disciplines who are generating exceptional work. We focused
on six traditional media as a structural basis—glass, fiber, metal, wood, ceramics and
book art—in addition to objects made from alternative materials, and set out to
select artists who specialize in each of these categories. Once the additional artists
were determined, we selected recent, exemplary pieces from each of the core and
the invited artists.
This survey poses two difficult questions: what is the current significance of the
word “handmade” and what does it mean to be Californian? In this day and age,
“handmade” is a ubiquitous term that is casually and commercially exploited and its
meaning has been diluted from overuse. Our intent is to re-evaluate the age-old,
yet evolving practice of crafting objects by hand and call attention to its importance
in our artistic trajectory.
Included in the show are objects that were skillfully made with the help of tools, as
has been the case throughout the course of time. Although the tools may have
changed in some cases, skillful manipulation, concept and design remain vital to the
end product. While many objects in this show attest to the continuity of traditional
16 17

methods and practices, we have also included objects that champion new tools,
techniques and the limitless potential of technology.
The second fundamental question touches on issues of identity and community.
Is it possible to translate the impact of geographic and political boundaries into
quantifiable artistic traits? Particularly in a state as large and demographically diverse
as California, these characteristics are hard to pinpoint. California has always been
known for being unfettered to tradition, unlike older states where history and
heritage shape the regional aesthetic. Resoundingly, California represents a broad
cross-section of American and global currents, and individualism prevails over
conformity.
Today, the boundaries between media, the utilitarian and the conceptual, and around
design, art and craft are eroded. Artists are increasingly versatile and experimental,
often preferring to operate unencumbered by the limitations of traditional, singular
disciplines. Several of the included artists split their practices between generating
wares for living and sculptural works, which allows for creative diversification.
A number of thematic threads link this body of works together. There are moments
of tranquility with unadulterated, exuberant visual pleasure balanced by strong
social commentary about racial inequalities, identity conflicts and class struggles.
Provocative conversation pieces are scattered throughout this group and artists’
voices can be heard loud and clear. Engagement, beyond simply the visual and
tactile, is a compelling motivation for many artists to create.
The landscape has offered lyrical, romantic inspiration throughout the state’s
aesthetic history, resulting in the stylized representations, motifs and focal subject
matter. While depictions of California’s varied natural assets continue, they are
tempered by a heightened fear for our legacy and even remorse about our impact
on the natural world. Sustainability, eco-friendly production processes and use of
repurposed materials are primary considerations for many. This body of craft
reconsiders our connection with the natural world and suggests that we have
become increasingly removed.
These works of humor and wit, experiments in process and design, and examples
of artistic mastery are imbued with the signature free-spiritedness of California.
Rays of optimism shine through, compelling us to consider what the future may hold.
Emily Zaiden
Director
Craft in America Center
18 19

UNCONVENTIONAL
APPROACHES:
EXPERIMENTATION WITH
PROCESS, MATERIALS AND
TECHNOLOGY
Matthew Hebert
Cinder Slump, 2013
Computer modeled, computer-controlled router cut Jelutong
2 x 23 x 11 inches
In his design studio, eleet warez, Hebert focuses on the intersection of technology, nature
and the domestic environment by reformatting objects through a modern lens. The irregular,
organic qualities of wood are digitally manipulated with a CNC router in this investigation
of pattern, repetition and process.
20 21

Christy Oates
Facet Chair, 2012
Plywood, maple, sapele
Assembled Chair: 32.5 x 16 x 16 inches, flat wall display: 36 x 36 x 1 inches
The inventive, laser-cut folding design that Oates generated has endless
potential in a world that is aspiring for efficiency, compact living, and
versatility. Oates has immersed her practice in the application of digital
technology and programming, considering herself part computer programmer
and toolmaker in addition to artist and maker.
That is my goal: to find out if the machines can make something that cannot be
made by hand.
22 23

Adrian Clutario
Labeija Series – Chair, 2012
Powder-coated steel, cement
Chair: 32 x 17 x 18 inches, Table: 15.5 x 18 x 18 inches
As a tribute to one of the first, legendary Harlem drag ball communities
that began in 1970, designer Clutario creates a vibrant commentary on
gender and queer identity with this cement-upholstered outdoor set.
Thick clouds of cement hover on slim, shocking-pink legs in this fresh
take on garden furniture. The durable material stays cool and is ideal for
hot climates.
Dorothy Yule
Memories of Science, 2012
Letterpress on Mohawk Superfine, embroidery on felt, silk thread,
gold-plated brass, brass, CXD binders board box, glass, book cloth,
ultra-suede
Closed book: 2.8 x 2.8 x 1.625 inches
Yule creates a personal theatrical experience through her books, emphasizing
a relationship between the structure of rhyming verse and the
architecture of pop-ups. This particular intimately scaled book speaks
to her childhood love of science. The box of the book also houses a mini
CD with the text set to original music.
24 25

Abrasha
Pendant, 2014
Black anodized aluminum, 18-karat gold, stainless steel, diamonds
Pendant: 2.5 x 8 inches, neckpiece: 14.25 inches
German-trained goldsmith Abrasha considers the emphasis on simplicity
in Japanese design and Bauhaus theory as major influences on his aesthetic.
He integrates both precious and non-precious materials in his
jewelry, normally including just a few materials that create contrast and
color play. Classically trained, Abrasha uses 3D modeling and rendering
which enhances the seemingly effortless geometric precision of his pieces.
Jennifer Reifsneider
For A Sphere With Nine Poles, 2011
Thread, rust, nails
61.5 x 8 inches
Rooted in the materials, traditions and patterns of her rural upbringing,
Reifsneider creates labor-intensive works in fiber that are manipulations
of tension designed to metaphorically control the threat of chaos.
Reifsneider, whose work is firmly grounded in the essence of fiber
tradition, crosses between media with her frequent application of rust.
Patterns become a symbolic language for measuring and mapping the
inherent contradictions that exist between mind and body.
26 27

Joy Stocksdale
Dotted Lines & Triangles, 2013
Stiffened and cut polychromatic screen-printed silk
28 x 48 inches
Polychromatic screen printing pioneer Stocksdale started experimenting
with her unique silk process in the 1970s. She continues to bring light,
shadow, movement and depth to her wall hangings and wearable garments.
Her motifs include leaves, flowers and shapes, often taking inspiration
from the stylized geometry of the Art Deco and Arts and Crafts styles.
Julia Turner
Mill Brooch #1, 2013
Wood, steel
2 x 2.75 x .5 inches
Turner’s jewelry is characterized by geometric, nuanced compositions
of everyday, but unexpected materials. She views jewelry as a language
for directly communicating what cannot be expressed in words. Turner
captures the disjunction between the natural and constructed worlds in
wearable forms that are highlighted by surface pattern and color treatment.
Her graphic designs in wood exude humility and strength.
28 29

SKIN AND BONES:
FORMING THE BODY
●
Julie Chen
Chrysalis, 2014
Paper, binder’s board, book cloth, high density foam
Box: 3.75 x 11.75 x 6.625 inches, closed book: 7 x 11 x 7 inches
Chrysalis is an interpretation of the complex and transformative nature of
the process of grief. The piece consists of a sculptural book object housed
in a box. The book object is held together by a series of magnets and can be
opened by the viewer until all the panels lie in a flat plane, revealing an inner
book with circular pages that can be held in the hand and read.
The fact that the full content of a piece can only be revealed over time with the
turning of the page, or an equivalent action, on the part of the reader/viewer, is an
enduring fascination for me, and is, I believe, one of the book form’s most singular
features.
30 31

Macy Chadwick
Pathways, 2010
Handset letterpress, laser printed Kimodesk film, digitally cut UV Ultra
paper, pochoir, machine stitching, codex structure in custom box with glass
lid and base
Closed book: 9 x 10.75 x .75 inches
Within translucent pages, cut paper shapes create a neurological geography
of veins and synapses as the text speaks of emotional pathways.
Turning the pages echoes the experience of focusing a microscope layer
by layer on a complex slide. On closer examination, once-familiar patterns
of thought devolve into a dense, uncertain territory of an intimate relationship
in flux.
Robert Brady
Untitled #1
Ceramic
18 x 18 x 5 inches
Modernist sculptor Brady is interested in shapes, lines and their spatial
implications. Since 1989, he has focused on wood, scavenging for components
that form figurative sculptures, but this piece draws upon his original
foundation in clay. Brady, acclaimed for abstract three-dimensional work,
has also worked with versatility in bronze and on paper.
32 33

Sonia Kim
Hairy Subject, 2012
Synthetic Kanekalon hair, basket woven
18 x 18 x 20 inches
Kim, the Korean American daughter of a beauty supply store owner,
wove this basket out of synthetic hair as a statement about personal
history and a commentary on the racial tension between the Korean
American and African American communities, which erupted during the
1992 riots in Los Angeles.
34 35

Victoria May
Study in Convulsion #3, 2014
Tire inner tube, thread, handmade silk, polyester cording
48 x 18 x 18 inches
May engages with the nature of fiber and explores its physical properties as
metaphors for tension, containment and flow. The juxtaposition of synthetic,
industrial rubber and natural silk provides a textural contrast and sparks a dialogue
about the potential of modern fiber sculpture. With dark humor, a flaccid
and contorted body can no longer contain its inner-workings.
A conceptual tension arises between beauty and darkness in my work, alluding to the
fundamental struggles inherent in the human condition.
Mary Little
Jessica Console, 2015
Cedar, matte finish, felted wool, Ikea legs
29 x 48 x 20 inches
The intimate relationship that clothing and furniture have with our
bodies is a central concept throughout Little’s work as an artist-designer.
She envisions each of her couture, sheathed creations as imaginary
characters with personalities of their own. They are intended to engage
with their user over the course of time.
36 37

Aya Oki
Plump, 2014
Blown and sandblasted glass, rubber thread, wood
30 x 54 x 10 inches
Experimenting with process, Oki forms these corpulent bubbles by
blowing glass into threaded encasements. She examines how glass mimics
the mutable properties of the human body. The Osaka-native, who now
works in California, completed graduate studies in glass both in Japan
and at Rochester Institute of Technology. Her intrigue with glass lies in
its life-like qualities, unique properties and essential materiality.
38 39

●
Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
Rebozo for Guadalupe – Gold, 2013
Gold, silver and synthetic thread
Outspoken and acclaimed weaver, Underwood creates political works in
fiber that defy the inherently soft nature of her media and that reference
the history of indigenous cultures. Underwood pioneered the art of
weaving with various wire thread. She created a series of symbolic shawls,
or rebozos, to honor and enshroud the powerful forces she describes as
spiritually guiding her ancestral and modern culture.
My work is a reflection of personal border experiences: the interconnectedness
of societies, insisting on beauty in struggle, and celebrating the notion of
“seeing” this world through my tri-cultural lens. Engaging materials, which
reflect a contemporary hyper-modern sensitivity, are interwoven to create
large-scale fiber art that is inspired in equal measures by land, politics and Spirit.
40 41

THE STATE OF THE UNION:
CRAFTING POLITICAL
EXPRESSION
Victor De La Rosa
Future Flags of America: Study for 2035 CA Flag, 2013
Digital print on cloth, embroidery, appliqué, crochet
72 x 48 inches
Textiles are agents of change in the hands of De La Rosa, who presents a commentary on
California’s ever-shifting population and identity. De La Rosa specializes in computerinterfaced
weaving and printing technology using jacquard looms, digital printers and laser
cutters to generate statements about history, race and geographic boundaries.
42 43

Natalia Anciso
Ricky, Matteo y Los Rinches, 2014
Watercolor, pen, embroidery, handkerchief
Individual panel diameter: 6 inches
Anciso focuses on topics of immigration, border identity, family legacy and
social justice in her work. Pano arte, or handkerchief art, is a craft tradition
attributed to Chicano prisoners in the 1940s that Anciso has revived to
depict the political strife of Chicanos living along the Rio Grande and
Texas-Mexico border.
44 45

Jim Bassler
Home Land Security, 3365, 2015
Wool, linen, silk, goat hair, nylon belting, waxed linen
30 x 16 x 11 inches
For six decades, Bassler has dedicated himself to exploring the global
history and practice of textile arts as both an artist and professor. In the
1980s, his work shifted from focusing on the revitalization of ancient
methods towards applying these processes to build expressive political
statements about contemporary society. In response to recent tragic
moments of violence in American history, Bassler wove a series of
metaphorically protective armor aprons that were inspired by Japanese
firemen’s jackets. This particular piece, which takes the form of a singlet,
pays tribute to one of the Boston Marathon bombing victims.
It was the logic of the weaving processes that convinced me to link into
this legacy.
46 47

Latchezar Boyadjiev
Freedom, 2013
Cast glass
25 x 40 x 6 inches
Boyadjiev is known for creating dynamic shapes with sensual lines in cast
glass. Before settling in California in the late 1980s, Bulgarian-born
Boyadjiev studied under master glass artist Stanislav Libensky in Prague.
Each of his pieces begins with a drawing that leads to a sculptural model
in clay before a final plaster positive version is made that is used for a mold.
Carole Frances Lung
KO (Knock Off) Enterprises: Roadmap to a Living Wage, 2015
Performance Installation
Carole Frances Lung is a fiber artist whose performances fuse cultural
criticism with spirited crafting. Lung’s alter ego, Frau Fiber, is a former
East German garment worker turned activist who calls attention to unjust
global labor practices and pays homage to textile manufacturing histories
through a feminist lens. She investigates the human cost of mass production
and consumption, addressing issues of value and time in the modern
economy. For her KO Enterprises performance on August 22, 2015 at the
Craft in America Center, Frau recreated an H&M clothing collection by
hand with the help of a hand-crank sewing machine. It is her hope that
micro production will provide a platform for educating shoppers about the
labor behind their purchases.
48 49

Jaime Guerrero
Farmworker, 2013
Hot-sculpted blown glass, oil paint
76 x 32 x 14 inches
Guerrero sculpts life-size, figurative work in glass to mirror human
experience and give a voice to subject matter that would normally
remain mute, often focusing on urban and Latino culture. For several
years, in addition to his studio practice, he has helmed a glassblowing
program for at-risk youth in South Central Los Angeles.
My work is about intersecting experiences and the rediscovery and shaping of
relics into new forms as a way of self-questioning. Glass is the perfect medium
to accomplish these goals because of its ethereal quality and its nature of
transparency.
50 51

Forrest Lesch-Middelton
Minaret Bottle, 2014
Reduction cooled stoneware, volumetric image transfer
17 x 7 inches
Patterns reminiscent of ancient world cultures and traditional Islamic
ornamentation form a powerful and vibrant language in the hands of
Middelton. Since 9/11, he has enlivened the strong silhouettes of his
forms with these decorative motifs that have their roots in Middle
Eastern cultures.
●
Wendy Maruyama
Tule Lake, 2014
Wood, ink, steel, cloth
80 x 31 inches
Tule Lake was one of two Japanese American internment camps in
California during World War II which had the highest level of security of
any of the camps. This piece is part of furniture and sculpture artist
Maruyama’s Executive Order 9066 series of wall-mounted cabinets that
integrate photo transfers with symbolic materials that were on hand at
the camps. Maruyama, known for using furniture as a vehicle for
feminist and racial commentary, retired in 2015 from her position
heading the furniture program at San Diego State University and her
work continues to move towards social practice.
52 53

●
Christina Y. Smith
I Am The New Economy (brooch), 2011
Sterling silver
2 x 6 inches
Smith’s tea services and wearable sculptures in thick gauge sterling silver
sheet capture isolated memories and political declarations. With refined
articulation, these synthesized narratives employ symbolism, abstraction
and figurative representation.
The everyday objects that surround us can be extremely curious when seen in
isolation. Familiar objects such as furniture, crutches and tools can be used as
potent symbols that anchor our past with our future when removed from their
present context.
54 55

THE MEANING
OF PLACE:
CALIFORNIAN LANDSCAPE
AND THE NEO-ROMANTIC
Evan Chambers
Opium Gazer Desk Lamp, 2013
Copper, cast bronze, blown glass
7 x 3.5 x 3.5 inches
Chambers builds imaginative, playful creatures in a steam-punk combination of metal and
glass. His assembled figures operate as lighting but play more sculptural roles. This elfin lamp
pays homage to California by featuring a bronze poppy atop California Cooper’s Hawk feet.
56 57

Michele Burgess
Book of Darkness, 2015
Handset letterpress, paper, Gampi, cotton, gouache, ink
Closed book: 11.75 x 8.5 inches
Eleven etchings and paintings by Burgess are paired with eleven poems
by Chard deNiord. The text is hand set in Perpetua and letterpress
printed on Gampi paper. Etchings are printed on Gampi, and the
paintings are gouache on Twinrocker paper. The book is housed in a
clamshell box covered in hand woven cotton from Guatemala.
I thought about and drew shafts of moonlight and sunlight in the woods of
Vermont. Chard had recently and reluctantly cut down 100 trees to protect his
house from falling limbs and to create a meadow on his property. This seemed
a very dramatic event to me, as a woman from the arid southwest, and I was
captured by the duality expressed in it. I used those trees as metaphors for his
poems to explore the way darkness orients and reorients itself in nature and in
the human imagination. The paintings felt necessary to add physicality to the
blackness and to enclose the etchings.
Petra Class
Gold and Lapis Brooch, 2011
22-karat gold, 18-karat gold, lapis lazuli
2 x 2 inches
German-trained Class takes a painterly approach to forming jewelry
from gems and other precious stones. She rhythmically arranges raw
forms and creates striking color and textural contrasts between elements.
Through my choice of colors and textures, { I } communicate a certain mood,
an attitude towards life that in turn will be, I hope, sensed by whoever is
looking at the piece...like an improvisational jazz melody, like an abstract
landscape...
58 59

Harry Reese and Sandra Liddell Reese
Isla Vista, 2014
Handset letterpress, Kitakata, cut paper, hand-painted paper
Open book (pages lined up together): 80 x 11.75 inches
This print project, generated in response to the May 2014 tragic attacks that took place in
the community near Santa Barbara where the Reeses have operated Turkey Press since
1977, uses the structure and language found in the I Ching, or Book of Changes, translations
by Richard Wilhelm, Cary Baynes, and Thomas Meyer. The typographic layout, using Gill
Sans and Walbaum types, was influenced by the “mesostics” of John Cage, and the design
of Iliazd. Cut paper images represent firm and broken lines of I Ching hexagrams. Polymer
plates made from scans of cut paper were letterpress printed on Kitakata. The “changing”
red lines in #2 were cut by a Roland plotter from hand-painted paper and collaged.
60 61

Randy Stromsoe
Desert Bloom, 2014
Hand chased and carved pewter
6.5 x 5 inches
Stromsoe is a master silversmith who creates functional and lyrical
objects that convey a sense of fluidity. He has advanced the tradition of
his historic craft in California and envisions each piece of flatware or
hollowware as a future heirloom.
Shape, form and function continue to be the centerpiece of my design focus.
David Wiseman
Unique Pomegranate Matchstick Holder, 2014
Porcelain, bronze
5 x 4 inches
Wiseman’s widely successful Los Angeles-based limited production line
of housewares and furnishings bring California nature indoors with a
romantic, modern slant.
62 63

Hiromi Takizawa
The Little Things, 2014
Glass, wood
18 x 4.5 x 3 inches
In her medium of glass, Nagano, Japan-born Takizawa creates contemplative
pieces that pair high concept with fine craftsmanship. Her works often
convey a sense of serenity and push the physical and metaphorical potential
of glass into new realms. This group of glass stones mimics the variety of
patterns, striations and colors that can only be found in the natural world.
Pamina Traylor
Oakland Beeways, 2011
Glass, graphite, oil paint, steel
16 x 24 x 4 inches
Known for powerful forms and bold use of color, this more muted poetic
offering of imagery encased in glass demonstrates Traylor’s ever-expansive
interpretation of the material’s possibilities. These honeycomb shapes tell
the plight of bees, whose tight yet fragile networks of interaction have
been threatened by human impact on the environment.
64 65

RISING TIDES:
FLUID FORMS AND WATER
AS MOTIF
●
Marilyn da Silva
Changing Tides, 2012
Copper, brass, wood, gesso, colored pencil, found objects
7 x 12 x 9 inches
Since 1999, da Silva has used birds along with other imagery as metaphors throughout her
narrative-driven sculpture, wearable art and hollowware. Her design process entails studying
photographs, drawings and scientific documentation of birds. She is renowned for her
unique surface treatment using gesso and colored pencil and the meticulous construction
of her lyrical compositions. Da Silva has taught at California College of the Arts since 1987
and she is program chair of jewelry and metal arts.
66 67

John Lewis
Low Glacier Vessel, 2011
Polished cast glass
21 x 26 x 10 inches
Lewis first opened an Oakland glass blowing studio in 1969 and he has
been an innovator in large-scale, site-specific architectural glass and cast
glass sculpture ever since. The textural contrast between the interior
and exterior of this robust vessel give the appearance of a crystallized
wedge of ice. Lewis applies other elements such as gold or white leaf
and copper foil to produce veins of color in his pieces.
.
Kris Patzlaff
Curio #7, 2013
Carved acrylic, sterling silver, leather
18 x 2 inches
In her series of “Curios” necklaces, Patzlaff creates talismanic assemblage
jewelry that includes carved acrylic, resin, formed silver and found objects.
The carved elements are shaped like coral and branches and they serve to
connect the wearer or viewer with the natural world. Patzlaff, who heads
the metal and jewelry program at Humboldt State University, works in
both small and large scale, and is interested in the associations between
jewelry and personal experiences.
68 69

●
Carol Shaw-Sutton
The White Sound, 2009
Twined waxed linen
19 x 11 x 8 inches
The poetics of fiber art have vastly expanded through Shaw-Sutton’s
eloquent and transcendent sculptures. As chair of the fiber program at
California State University, Long Beach until her retirement in 2015,
Shaw-Sutton guided students in the advancement of labor-intensive,
ancient and modern processes. As in the case of this nautilus, Shaw-Sutton
manipulates the flow and interconnected nature of her medium to form
statements about personal history, growth and time.
As human society becomes increasingly complex, and paradoxically both
alienated and interdependent, the interwoven language of textiles can stand in as
a potent visual metaphor.
70 71

Geri Patterson-Kutras
Beach House #2, 2014
Commercial and hand dyed cotton, machine appliqué, thread,
machine quilted
41 x 27 inches
Patterson-Kutras captures evocative scenes in pieces of cut cloth and
stitches of thread, materials that appeal to her for their fundamental
familiarity and ubiquitous history. She has recently focused on the lines,
patterns and visual shapes that emerge from the landscape. In this
composition, a golden sun balances the rectilinear built structures and
rolling grassy hills lead to distant blue waves.
Steven Brixner
Ruffle Bracelet, 2012
Sterling silver, fine silver, 22-karat gold
4 x .33 inches
Brixner creates jewelry that is designed to catch and reflect light. He
combines gold and silver to create a balanced contrast that is classic and
timeless. This pristine bracelet ripples and sparkles on the wrist like a
wave in the sun.
72 73

THE CALIFORNIA LIFESTYLE
NOW
●
Tanya Aguiñiga
Paper Clip Lounge, 2012
Steel rod, leather, cotton rope
56 x 34 x 19.5 inches
Furniture design and fiber are primary fields for Aguiñiga, who weaves messages of border
identity and her Mexican heritage into functional objects for utterly modern California
living. The hammock pattern formed by the rope is a reference to Central American
domestic traditions.
74 75

●
Katherine Gray
Cold Hearth, 2012
Glass
18.5 x 12 x 8.5 inches
The flawless clarity of Gray’s colorless, abstracted hearth offers profound
commentary on California living today, extending the discussion far beyond
climate concerns. The historic symbolism of hearth and home, outmoded
values of the past and even a fleeting lifestyle that once existed are merely
ghosts in this poetic work. Gray, who has taught at California State University,
San Bernadino since 2007, has helped activate a community of glass
innovators in Southern California.
Essentially, all of my work is about disappearance and I use glass as an embodiment
of that notion, vacillating between a state of otherworldly perfection and
one of mundane familiarity.
The Haas Brothers
Unique Hex Stool, 2012
Brass, wood
17 x 15 x 12 inches
With sass and undeniable pop-appeal, the Haas Brothers have received
international attention for their bestial take on sculptural furniture. In
their bustling Los Angeles studio, they have generated a series of
furniture that is covered in a skin of brass tiles.
76 77

Reuben Foat
Conversation Cabinet, 2012
Ash, wenge, milk paint
13 x 58 x 14 inches
Foat incorporates digital fabrication and traditional techniques into his
furniture, accessories and sculptures. A pattern of waves, perhaps a
reference to sound, or to Californian beaches, or both, drifts across the
face of this cabinet to form a clever visual pun. Foat raises the question
of whether or not furniture can elicit conversation and actively engage.
78 79

●
Laura Mays
Facet Boxes, 2013
Madrone
Each box: 4 x 4 x 4 inches
History and process are integral to the end product for Mays, whose designs
assert their constructive elements. Each dovetailed box in this series of six has a
unique arrangement of facets planed into it that add to the complexity of the
structure. Mays, who studied architecture and furniture design in her native
Dublin, Ireland, has directed the fine woodworking program at the College of the
Redwoods since 2011. Workmanship, sustainable and local woods and archetypal
stylistic references define her craft ethic.
80 81

Christy Matson
Triangles in Pink, Red, Black and Tan, 2013
Cotton, linen
20 x 14.5 x 1.75 inches
Matson melds ethnographic tradition, modernism and abstraction together
in her jacquard-woven compositions. The sun-bleached palette of Southern
California and the urban contrasts between concrete and wood, and vibrant
bougainvillea and jacaranda blossoms inform her pieces.
There’s knowledge that you know with your hands, the things that are much more
unquantifiable.
82 83

Garry Knox Bennett
Desk with Chair, 2013
Honduras rosewood, mixed wood, fabric, cast bronze, patina, paint
Desk: 33.33 x 34.75 x 17 inches, chair: 30 x 19.25 x 22 inches
Since the 1960s, Bennett has been a revolutionary force in the California
studio furniture scene. He channels irreverence, subversion and
playfulness into meticulously crafted furniture sculptures. Bennett’s
incorporation of unconventional materials, the rejection of pretension
and dialogging with historic paradigms made him a luminary in the
Postmodernist design scene. The diminutive scale of this desk set, an
understated piece from an artist adored for his audacity, forms a
personal space of retreat and reflection for its user.
Darrick Rasmussen
Credenza, 2013
Reclaimed old growth Douglas fir, Pacific madrone, leather
24 x 58.5 x 16 inches
Clean, pure lines and mindful craftsmanship define Rasmussen’s aesthetic,
which captures the essence of California modern design today.
84 85

FROM THE EARTH:
ECO-SENSITIVE
REPURPOSING AND
REGENERATION
●
Steven Portigal
Nature Morte (Ivoire), 2013
Ceramic, wood
38 x 9 x 9 inches
Since 2013, Portigal has focused on exploring energy-efficient ways of making ceramics
sculpture. He is exploring unfired and low-fired forms and new glaze treatments in a
conscious effort to minimize the environmental impact of his practice. This series is a
commentary on our present crisis and the pieces were low-fired and treated with a
non-fired surface.
We will find a way forward that preserves both the environment and the rich ceramic tradition,
which has played such a significant role in the development of humanity.
86 87

Jennifer Anderson
Folding Chair, 2014
Mud, rebar
29.25 x 18 x 19.25 inches
Anderson hand-builds over rebar with mud, the utmost renewable and
sustainable material, and explores how materials can change our
perceptions of furniture. She creates one-of-a-kind pieces that challenge
the relationship between tradition and experimentation, and she pushes
us to reconsider the importance of the objects in our everyday lives.
Christine Lee
Truss Hanger Series for Workshop Residence, 2014
Patent pending non-toxic composite material from recycled fiber
8.25 x 16.5 x .25 inches
Lee designed these coat hangers featuring the core set of eight bridge
truss designs that young architects and engineers must learn. As a
designer, Lee focuses on the untapped potential of disregarded material.
The patent-pending material of these hangers is a non-toxic 100%
recycled fiber substrate that is press-molded. Lee developed it in
collaboration with John Hunt at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory.
These prototypes were made with CNC routers.
88 89

Barbara Holmes
Curl, 2012
Reclaimed lath
51 x 45 x 7 inches
The re-contextualization of commonplace, timeworn materials is the heart
of Holmes’ work, in which she reveals the layers of meaning that these
worn materials carry through detail-oriented craftsmanship.
Using reclaimed material that is often untidy and muddled in its appearance and
redeeming it into a carefully crafted object is a pleasurable part of my process.
Tina Linville
Rainbow Net, 2014
Salvaged materials, nylon, thread, acrylic paint, acrylic medium
39 x 28 x 6 inches
The ordinary and discarded are recharged with new life and significance
in the hands of Linville. Her vivid, abstract wall hangings and threedimensional
fiber sculptures escape categorization but play with the
distinction between the familiar and the mysterious.
90 91

Helen Shirk
Neckpiece NP8 Bib, 2014
Milled steel, china paint, patina, hand-pierced, soldered, painted
11 x 10 x 1 inches
Made as a tribute to the resilience and infinite variation of the natural
world, Shirk is acclaimed for her hand-pierced steel jewelry and metal
vessels that convey strength and lightness. She commemorates nature
amidst a changing climate and time of rampant industrialization. Shirk is
a Professor of Art Emerita at San Diego State University where she has
taught since 1975.
The sense of intimacy and preciousness that jewelry imparts, as well as its long
history of botanical imagery, seems central to my reflection on the natural
world our children will inherit, a reflection on both pleasure and loss.
92 93

THE ADVANCEMENT OF
FUNCTIONAL CRAFT
TRADITIONS:
INFUSING BEAUTY INTO THE
EVERYDAY WORLD
●
Sandy Simon
Lucky Teapot, 2015
Porcelain
5.5 x 8.5 x 5 inches
The notion of the simple, humble pot as a pure and inspirational object is asserted by
Simon’s work. This particular teapot features Simon’s signature lucky seed that introduces a
spark of color and individual intrigue into the piece.
94 95

Joe Cariati
Venetian Group, 2015
Blown Glass
31 x 6.5 inches, 20 x 10 inches, 24 x 11 inches
Cariati’s minimalist decanters synthesize calculated pragmatism and
essential beauty. Their delicate necks are topped with “t-shape” lips,
which characterize his elegant forms. Each one-of-a-kind vessel is made
in the Los Angeles studio he opened in 2003.
Doug Blechner
Tea Set, 2010
Glazed porcelain, unglazed stoneware base
10 x 22 x 12 inches
Representing the intersection of utilitarian and sculptural forms, Blechner
crafts pieces that are strong, balanced and inviting. Blechner’s muted glazes
and pillowy shapes elevate the everyday to artistic heights.
96 97

Sunshine Cobb
Rock Cup, 2014
Earthenware, sandblasted glaze
3.5 x 7 inches and 2.5 x 4 inches
The signature, sandblasted matte surfaces of Cobb’s versatile cups have a
soft and rich quality that highlights her range of patterns. Cobb’s functional
tablewares are crafted to engage on a tactile level and embody a sense of
timelessness, memory and nostalgia.
By creating vessels kept within arms reach, I hope to explore and communicate
how an object’s significance can grow and change depending on the path of a
person’s life. I’m also interested in the shift of function versus ornament during
the passing of time.
Mike Johnson
Scott Chair, 2015
Walnut, ebony
28 x 25 x 25 inches
Johnson, master craftsman at Sam Maloof Woodworker, advances the
legacy of studio furniture luminary Sam Maloof through exceptional
execution of lyrical, elegant designs.
98 99

Caleb Siemon
Red Mokume Sphere, 2011
Lead-free crystal
8 x 8 inches
Siemon apprenticed with Italian maestro Pino Signoretto before building
his own Murano-modeled studio in Southern California. Siemon uses
traditional Muranese cane-making and finish-carving techniques for his
Mokume series of one-of-a-kind vessels. The resulting dense, multi-layered
patterning is reminiscent of textiles and microscopic systems.
Yvonne Mouser
Curb Broom, 2010
Ash, broomcorn
61 x 14 x 1 inches
Mouser’s practice as an artist-designer is driven by her desire to give
meaning to the everyday through artifacts and to tell stories through
carefully crafted sculptural objects.
100 101

David Wulfeck
Untitled, 2014
Stoneware
7.5 x 5 inches
Achieving a sense of naturalism, singularity and harmony has set
Wulfeck’s work apart for more than forty years. He teaches students the
fundamental principles of ceramics at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo
and brings ceramics mastery to the Central Coast.
Susan Shutt-Wulfeck
Yellow Faceted Bowl, 2014
Stoneware
11 x 10.75 inches
Wulfeck, along with her husband, is among the most masterful potters
working in California today. She has perfected her craft over decades.
Her innate understanding of the material and ability to achieve balanced
forms result in subtle, modern classics.
102 103

MATERIAL PURSUITS:
VIRTUOSITY IN CRAFT
Arline Fisch
Yellow/Green Flower Wreath, 2013
Fine silver, sterling silver, coated copper wire, machine knot
14 x 6 x 3 inches
Fisch, who was declared a ‘“Living Treasure of California”, participated in the original
California Design shows and is known as a pioneer in the development of contemporary
jewelry art. Among her noteworthy contributions, Fisch explores the application of textile
processes to metal, including knitting, crochet and weaving. Her three-dimensional sculptural
woven forms and metal wire jewelry have been shown around the world. As Professor of
Art Emerita at San Diego State University, where she started teaching in 1961, she has
inspired generations of students in metalsmithing and jewelry making.
104 105

●
Marvin Lipofsky
Russian Group 2006-7 #12, 2006-2007
Blown glass
39 x 28 x 6 inches
Lipofksy is one of the most influential leaders of the American Studio
Glass movement. After studying with Harvey Littleton in the 1960s, he
transported the concepts and techniques to California in 1964 where he
helped them take root by establishing a glass studio at the University of
California, Berkeley. In California, he was free to experiment boldly with
the uncharted potential of the medium.
…It’s all this pleasant discovery; these little accidents that just happened along
the way.
Bill Hunter
Infinity’s Allure, 2012
Primavera
12 x 27 x 21 inches
Hunter cuts apart his lathe-turned vessels to create a double helix of
interlocking forms. Deconstructing and transforming the vessel, the piece
maintains a dynamic tension between the individual wood pieces that rest
on and support each other. The interplay of negative space, light and mass
speaks to nature’s energy and evolution.
I’m always trying to develop and work through a range of abstract concepts and
motives with the pieces; creating motionless movement, trying to defy gravity,
using complexity of line to engage the viewer, and encourage exploration and
contemplation.
106 107

Lesley Nishigawara
Diamond Lace Repeat, 2014
Silk, organza, thread
25 x 25 x 8 inches
Nishigawara transforms repeated patterns from two-dimensional
surfaces to three-dimensional forms. The pattern is developed as a
traditional surface design then repeated through both two and threedimensional
layering, creating depth with fabric and the subsequent
shadows of these forms.
Brian Newell
Desk, 2012
African blackwood, Brazilian rosewood, wenge
70 x 30 inches
Woodworker Newell is a technical virtuoso who has spent many years
living and working in Japan. His constant desire to expand his expertise
aids him in generating lyrical, imaginative and unprecedented examples
of fine woodworking.
I still explore the entire universe of woodworking, sometimes camping out on
its outer borders and other times remaining close to the center, making simple,
beautiful and functional furniture from local woods.
108 109

Kay Sekimachi
Homage to AM VI and Homage to AM V, 2014
Linen, dye, permanent marker, plain weave
12.25 x 12 inches and 12.75 x 12 inches
Legendary “weaver’s weaver” and fiber visionary Sekimachi has been a
fundamental innovator for generations of artists since she started
experimenting with technique and materials more than sixty years ago.
Integral to the fiber arts movement, she expanded the potential of
loom-woven work, forming three-dimensional sculptures and exploring
the inherent nature of her medium. Her pure, elegant woven creations
are characterized by harmonious and meditative simplicity.
110 111

TROMPE L’OEIL CRAFT:
VISUAL PLAY, PUNS AND
PROVOCATIONS
Clayton Bailey
Exploding Clinker Bottle, 2013
Clay from Port Costa, CA, porcelain, glaze, decal
14 x 12 x 12 inches
Bailey, regarded as California’s zany mad scientist potter, became a key figure in the late
1960s and 1970s Funk movement and in conceptual and satirical approaches that emphasized
process over product. For this piece, red clay from Bailey’s own property bursts
through a porcelain skin, creating an explosion that is frozen in time and the antithesis of
what most potters intend when firing their work.
112 113

John Cederquist
Architectural Elements – Drapery Series, 2010-2012
Mixed wood, aniline dye, epoxy resin
65 x 29 x 32 inches
Trompe l’oeil master Cederquist paints with inlay to create furniture that
floats between reality and deception. Grounded in furniture-making
traditions, his philosophical pieces are perfectly crafted to challenge the
viewer’s perception of depth. He has explored various subject matter
over the decades, ranging from American politics and popular culture to
Japanese art and propaganda. Cederquist questions the fundamental
nature of structure, craftsmanship and decorative arts history in his
recent series of sculptural works.
People pay more attention to images than real life.
114 115

Nate Cotterman
Some Assembly Required: Bacchus and Some Assembly Required: Tazza, 2014
Blown glass, flame-worked glass
Each assembly: 7 x 7 x 7 inches
These goblet constructions are a re-contextualization of traditional
handmade glass stemware. The interior components are suspended inside
the “model” frame, allowing the viewer to visually assemble a goblet
composition. Cotterman, whose work is grounded in Venetian glass blowing
techniques, questions the intersection between manufacturing and
handcraftsmanship in our modern culture.
Jack da Silva
Anniversary Braillecelet, 2012
Synclastic formed sterling silver, 18-karat gold, diamonds
1 x 3 inches
The pattern of diamonds spells “I Love You” in Braille on this piece.
Da Silva has incorporated Braille into his jewelry over the years, exploring
the ways that communication occurs through various channels and
formats. Da Silva was originally drawn to metalwork because of its utility
and versatility. Balanced proportions and traditional craftsmanship are
definitive characteristics in his jewelry, tableware and sculptural work.
116 117

Sandra Enterline
Diamond Web Necklace, 2012
Sterling silver, 950 palladium, 14-karat white gold, stainless steel, diamonds
10 x 10 x .25 inches
Balancing organicism with an industrial edge, Enterline’s web is dotted with
irregular diamond slices that shimmer and cast light on the wearer. Apertures
and perforations are a signature design element throughout Enterline’s
jewelry, as is the case with this pattern of suspended diamond encasements.
Dylan Palmer
Separate, 2014
Blown glass, glass pedestal
12 x 12 x 8 inches
Breaking out of conventional perceptions of glass, Palmer’s clever
sculptural statements reinvent Pop Art for the twenty-first century.
118 119

Richard Shaw
Still Life with Two Landscapes, 2013
Porcelain, over-glaze decals
29 x 13.5 x 13 inches
Since the 1960s, Shaw has executed still life sculptures with unrivaled
ingenuity. His trompe l’oeil reinvention of mundane objects brings
humor and new meaning to the everyday. On a technical level, he has
invented various techniques including perfectly cast porcelain objects
and overglaze transfer decals.
The human aspect of the still life or assemblage acts as a person memorializing
their identity using the objects from their personal narrative. The narrative
itself reveals their tastes, pastimes, intellectual pursuits, sins, habits good and
bad, obsessions, etc.
120 121

Kevin Myers
Chip On My Shoulder, 2011
Stoneware
7 x 8 inches
Bearing a shard on its shoulder, Myers uses form to make a playful pun
with this vessel. The blingy, gilded piece also makes a tongue-in-cheek
reference to material aspirations in this day and age.
Process, tactile versatility, permanence, and significant historical value are all
reasons why clay is my primary constituent. My formal concerns with the
postmodern vessel are beginning to lean more towards sculpture and, in some
ways, architecture.
Susan Stinsmuehlen-Amend
Handmade, 2013
Kiln-fired paint, glass, wood, metal
36 x 24 x 1.5 inches
An innovator in painterly approaches to flat glass, Stinsmuehlen-Amend
comments on the implications of decorative cut glassware in this
multilayered composition of pattern, imagery and color. Since the late
1970s, Stinsmuehlen-Amend has developed the visual and intellectual
potential of flat glass in her vibrant, metaphorical panels. In this piece,
the panel brings the viewer inside and frames the perspective outwards.
122 123

STORYTELLING,
IMAGINATION AND THE
EVOCATIVE NARRATIVE
Kristin Beeler
Buzz (Brooch), 2013
Sterling silver, mother of pearl, pearls, ink
2.5 x 4 inches
With a nod to Classicism, Beeler sketched an image on mother of pearl for this
neo-romantic piece in her Hortus Conclusus series. She examines how jewelry can
contain visual memory and reposition definitions of beauty.
As an object, jewelry is radically intimate.
124 125

Arthur Gonzalez
The Skeptic, 2015
Earthenware, glaze, pennies, gold leaf, blown glass, oil paint
32 x 24 x 19 inches
California College of the Arts Ceramics professor Gonzalez creates
sculptures that are the raw and disconcerting materialization of
thoughts, dreams, and other fantastical visions. Gonzalez switched from
painting to sculpture as a graduate student in 1979 and has used objects
as imagery ever since.
I turned to sculpture to give my painting some breathing room. Painting on
canvas necessarily means confronting a rectangle, and I was feeling stymied by
that edge. Clay, I figured, would be a perfect proxy for canvas.
Elizabeth Boyne
The Language of Shadows, 2013
Handset letterpress, Rives Lightweight paper, Cave Paper, gold endbands
Closed book: 10 x 7.5 x 2.5 inches
Artist book letterpress printed on Rives Lightweight paper with photopolymer
plates and handset metal type. The book is bound using a
modified version of simplified binding. Cave Paper covers the case of the
book and the book is embellished with hand-sewn gold endbands. Using
quotes from the diary of Opal Whiteley, a young girl who recorded her
life in Oregon’s lumber camps in the early 1900s, this artist book
imagines how voices and shadows became real to a young woman and
transformed her childhood memories.
126 127

Jay Musler
My World Is Yours, 2015
Lamp worked glass, oil paint
10.5 x 5.5 x 4 inches
Since starting as a glassblower in the late 1960s, Musler has developed a
distinctive and innovative approach to glass through lampworking,
cutting, assembling and painting. While he riffs on the functional origins
of glass forms, Musler is more interested in telling a story. The goblet is a
staple in his work, standing in as a reoccurring character. He adorns his
cartoon-like, petite sculpture with charms and animates it with vivid
surface color.
128 129

Gerardo Monterrubio
El Tiradero, 2014
Porcelain
22 x 14 x 15 inches
Monterrubio, who was born in Oaxaca, Mexico and now resides in Los
Angeles, is propelled creatively by the applications of clay throughout
time. In his amorphous vessel shapes, he taps into the anthropology of
ceramics as a universal vehicle for expressing socio-political narratives.
With this trajectory in mind, he applies mural traditions to his surfaces to
document aspects of today’s society.
Altered by the imagination, memory, and the like, my work engages the idea of
recording selected aspects of contemporary society, in methods that are as old
and universal as human creativity itself.
130 131

Sondra Sherman
Rorschach Corsage: True Happiness, 2013
Steel, nail polish
3 x 3 x .5 inches
Sherman’s work examines the duality that is inherent to jewelry, as it is
intimately positioned, yet publicly presented and continually moving
about in the world. She explores how jewelry can be affective and a
vehicle for instigating social exchange. In her Rorschach series, she elicits
an emotional response from the wearer and viewer while commemorating
the notion of a corsage in an unorthodox material.
Vince Palacios
Alchemy Series – Preventative Measure/Preemptive Strike, 2012
Clay, glaze, porcelain tile, decals
16 x 12 x 12 inches
The dreamlike, surreal assemblage of imagery that Palacios draws upon
to adorn his forms are intended as inferences and possibilities, yet some
messages speak louder than others. Palacios seamlessly combines
painted imagery with decals and the shapes of his forms play with these
visual clues and codes.
132 133

INDEX OF ARTISTS
Abrasha pg. 27
Aguiñiga, Tanya pg. 74
Anciso, Natalia pg. 44-45
Anderson, Jennifer pg. 88
Bailey, Clayton pg. 112-113
Bassler, Jim pg. 46-47
Beeler, Kristin pg. 124-125
Bennett, Garry Knox pg. 85
Blechner, Doug pg. 97
Boyadjiev, Latchezar pg. 48
Boyne, Elizabeth pg. 126
Brady, Robert pg. 32
Brixner, Steven pg. 72
Burgess, Michele pg. 58
Cariati, Joe pg. 96
Cederquist, John pg. 18-19, 114-115
Chadwick, Macy pg. 33
Chambers, Evan pg. 56-57
Chen, Julie pg. 30-31
Class, Petra pg. 59
Clutario, Adrian pg. 24
Cobb, Sunshine pg. 6-7, 98
Cotterman, Nate pg. 116
De La Rosa, Victor pg. 42-43
da Silva, Jack pg. 117
da Silva, Marilyn pg. 66-67
Enterline, Sandra pg. 12-13, 118
Fisch, Arline pg. 104-105
Foat, Reuben pg. 78-79
Gonzalez, Arthur pg.127
Gray, Katherine pg. 76
Guerrero, Jaime pg. 50-51
The Haas Brothers pg. 14-15, 77
Hebert, Matthew pg. 20-21
Holmes, Barbara pg. 91
Hunter, Bill pg. 107
Johnson, Mike pg. 99
Kim, Sonia pg. 34-35
Lee, Christine pg. 89
Lesch-Middelton, Forrest pg. 52
Lewis, John pg. 68
Linville, Tina pg. 90
Lipofsky, Marvin pg. 106
Little, Mary pg. 37
Lung, Carole Frances pg. 49
Maruyama, Wendy pg. 53
Matson, Christy pg. 16-17, 82-83
May, Victoria pg. 36
Mays, Laura pg. 10-11, 80-81
Monterrubio, Gerardo pg. 130-131
Mouser, Yvonne pg. 100
Musler, Jay pg. 128-129
Myers, Kevin pg. 122
Newell, Brian pg. 108
Nishigawara, Lesley pg. 109
Oates, Christy pg. 22-23
Oki, Aya pg. 8-9, 38-39
Palacios, Vince pg. 132
Palmer, Dylan pg. 119
Patterson-Kutras, Geri pg. 73
Patzlaff, Kris pg. 69
Portigal, Steven pg. 86-87
Rasmussen, Darrick pg. 84
Reese, Harry & Sandra Liddell Reese pg. 60-61
Reifsneider, Jennifer pg. 26
Sekimachi, Kay pg. 110-111
Shaw, Richard pg. 120-121
Shaw-Sutton, Carol pg. 70-71
Sherman, Sondra pg. 133
Shirk, Helen pg. 92-93
Shutt-Wulfeck, Susan pg. 103
Siemon, Caleb pg. 101
Simon, Sandy pg. 94-95
Smith, Christina Y. pg. 54-55
Stinsmuehlen-Amend, Susan pg. 123
Stocksdale, Joy pg. 28
Stromsoe, Randy pg. 62
Takizawa, Hiromi pg. 64
Traylor, Pamina pg. 65
Turner, Julia pg. 29
Underwood, Consuelo Jimenez pg. 40-41
Wiseman, David pg. 63
Wulfeck, David pg. 102
Yule, Dorothy pg. 4-5, 25
134 135

PHOTO CREDITS
We have made every effort to contact all owners of images reproduced in this
book. If proper acknowledgment has not been made, we ask owners to contact
Craft in America. We regret any omissions.
Madison Metro photographed all images reproduced in this catalog except
where credit has been identified as belonging to image owners below.
Pg. 4-5 Luz Marina Ruiz
Pg. 8-9 Elizabeth Lamark, RIT Photo Production Services
Pg. 15-16 Joe Kramm, courtesy of the artists and R & Company
Pg. 19-20 © Gary C. Zuercher
Pg. 22-23 Christy Oates
Pg. 25 Luz Marina Ruiz
Pg. 26 Lisa Talbot, courtesy of the artist
Pg. 28 Courtesy of the artist
Pg. 32 Courtesy of the artist
Pg. 33 Sibila Savage
Pg. 36 r.r. jones
Pg. 37 Mary Little Studio
Pg. 38-39 Elizabeth Lamark, RIT Photo Production Services
Pg. 43 Photo © Aimee Santos
Pg. 44-45 Albert Anciso
Pg. 48 Courtesy of the artist
Pg. 49 Sebastian Duncan-Portuondo
Pg. 51 Keay Edwards
Pg. 58 Miya Hannan
Pg. 60-61 Courtesy of the artists
Pg. 62 Ron Bez
Pg. 63 Joe Kramm, courtesy of the artist and R & Company
Pg. 64 Hiromi Takizawa
Pg. 65 Photo by Hans-Jurgen Bergmann
Pg. 68 Image by Lawrence Huff
Pg. 73 Courtesy of the artist
Pg. 76 Fredrik Nilsen
Pg. 77 Joe Kramm, courtesy of the artists and R & Company
Pg. 79 Rizzhel Mae Javier
Pg. 84 Courtesy of the artist
Pg. 85 Tom and Toni Bostick
Pg. 88 Heather McCalla
Pg. 93 Photo by artist
Pg. 106 M. Lee Fatherree
Pg. 107 Alan Shaffer
Pg. 108 Tom and Toni Bostick
Pg. 115 © Gary C. Zuercher
Pg. 116 Daniel Fox, Lumina Studio
Pg. 117 Hap Sakwa
Pg. 121 Alice Shaw
Pg. 123 Courtesy of the artist
Pg. 126 Elizabeth Boyne
Pg. 127 John Wilson White
Pg. 129 Tom and Toni Bostick
136 137

Craft in America and the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation
for Arts and Crafts wish to thank their Boards of Directors for
their support.
Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts
Nick Brown
Charles Field
Anthea Hartig
Larry Henderson
Ann Joslin
Beverly Maloof
Lindell Marsh
Carolyn Owen-Towle
Richard Pace
Connie Ransom
Janice Rutherford
John Scott
David Spencer
Fritz Weis
Diane Williams
Todd Wingate
Emeritus Board Members:
Slimen Maloof
Ted Maloof
William Knox Mellon
Craft in America
Susan A. Grode, President
Corinna L. Cotsen, Secretary
Susan K. Schear, Treasurer
Carolyn L. E. Benesh
Lloyd E. Herman
Lois Jecklin
Jane C. Milosch
Steven Poster

C
CRAFT IN AMERICA IN PARTNERSHIP
WITH THE SAM AND ALFREDA MALOOF
FOUNDATION FOR ARTS AND CRAFTS
CALIFORNIA HANDMADE: STATE OF THE ARTS 2015
CRAFT IN AMERICA IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SAM AND
ALFREDA MALOOF FOUNDATION FOR ARTS AND CRAFTS