ARTS: TAMIU displays State of Things ceramics exhibit
By Andrew Elizondo
Bridge Staff Writer
Published Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024
After hours in the studio and around high kiln temperatures, faculty from around TAMUS spun up an exhibition titled State of Things.
From Jan. 18 to March 9, the exhibit runs in the Texas A&M International University Art Gallery in the Center for the Fine and Performing Arts. The exhibition features themes of letting go, womanhood and rebirth.
One of the ceramic pieces in the State of Things art exhibit on Jan. 18 in the TAMIU Art Gallery.
One of the ceramic pieces in the State of Things art exhibit on Jan. 18 in the TAMIU Art Gallery.
Contributors include professors across the Texas A&M System, such as Misty Gamble of West Texas A&M, Leandra Urrutia of Texas A&M–Corpus Christi, Christy Wittmer of Texas A&M Commerce, and TAMIU Assistant Professor of ceramics Emily Bayless.
“I wanted to share exciting work with TAMIU that exemplifies how ambitious clay can be and the things it can achieve as a material,” Bayless said.
Bayless led this exhibition, which gave TAMIU a warm, fresh, out-of-the-kiln welcome to the spring semester. She challenges the technicality of clay and is unafraid of adding other elements into the mix, such as woven cloth or live flowers.
Unidentified students lay eyes on the State of Things art exhibit on Jan. 18 in the TAMIU Art Gallery.
“That’s a component of the work that’s more interactive in a way … those flowers are living and dying in front of our eyes and that’s not something I can control,” Bayless said. “A lot of aspects of the process of ceramics I don’t have control over. Once they go into the kiln, I’m letting go of an aspect of control.”
One of the ceramic pieces in the State of Things art exhibit on Jan. 18 in the TAMIU Art Gallery.
State of Things reflects a core aspect to the contributors’ lives through their pieces. They framed their struggles by creating works that reflect femininity, healing, stability and letting go.
“A lot of the work is about me celebrating a younger life or an identity that doesn’t exist for me now,” Bayless explained. “And then some of the pieces of ‘Prayer for Self Care’ are trying to negotiate time for myself that came so easy for me in certain time periods of my life: the relationship with yourself, time changing … and letting go of control.
“Being a woman, a mother, a professional having a full time career—all of these things— I’ve had to let go of and shed.”
State of Things will continue its display at West Texas A&M University in the fall where Leandra Urrutia will take over.
“Hopefully this exhibition will continue to travel,” Bayless said.
