Bruce W. Bowers
Wood Fired Pottery
and
Digital Photo Montage
About the Artist
In order to better understand my approach to my pottery and my photography, the above video and the following excerpt may be helpful.
WABI-SABI
The simplicity of wabi-sabi is probably best described as the state of grace arrive at by a sober, modest, heartfelt intelligence. The main strategy of this intelligence is economy of means. Pare down to the essence, but don't remove the poetry. Keep things clean and unencumbered, but don't sterilize. Things wabi-sabi are emotionally warm, never cold. Usually this implies a limited palette of materials. It also means keeping conspicuous features to a minimum. But it doesn't mean removing the invisible connective tissue that somehow binds the elements into a meaningful whole. It also doesn't mean in any way diminishing something's "interestingness," the quality that compels us to look at that something over, and over, and over again.
Leonard Koren, Wabi-Sabi: For Artists, Designers, Poets, and Philosophers
I have been working with clay for well over thirty years. My involvement with photography goes back over a decade. Although very different in approach, both media appeal to me very much and seem to address various facets of my personality.
I taught as a university professor for about 14 years. Over the years, my work has appeared in over 60 national and regional exhibits. I started out, after finishing my M.F.A. in Sculpture, as an adjunct faculty member and worked my way up to an Associate Professorship and became Department Chair. This was at a small liberal arts college in Ohio.
For many years, I worked with only clay and made bright, highly decorated forms. About 18 years ago, I took a chance and decided to change course. I resigned from full time teaching and turned my attention to what I taught. I was always interested in wood firing, but did not have access to a kiln. Now I have the ability to fire anytime. Further, I have a full digital darkroom in my home.
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KAMATAKI
(Kiln Firing)
