An art exhibit opens Friday night in downtown St Joseph that shows off many different forms of “resistance.”
Dooley Lawrence says the name “Resistance” was bestowed upon his exhibition by his collaborator Carla Malone Steck, and Json Myers, the operator of the International Trucking Service Gallery at 803 Francis. The show features a pair of “zen gardens” complete with unusual ceramic works. You’ll also notice some of the resistance offered by the ropes, racks and other shelving apparatus used to display Mr Lawrence’s work.
Lawrence says one of his favorite things to do is to manage the very lengthy firing process that leads to his finished works. He uses the “Anagama” firing method, a process developed thousands of years ago by peasants in the far east. Mr Lawrence built his own Anagama kiln at his home.
The firing of a new batch of works is a ten-day, 24-hour-a-day process that requires his nearly-constant attention. Detailed and timed cooling is also essential, and can last upwards of 21 days.
“My first experience was with a small, wood-fired kiln that I built, that fired in about 18 to 24 hours,” Lawrence says in an interview.
“Now I enjoyed doing that, but when I read about these Anagama kilns, that were fired for multiple days, nine, ten, up to 20 days, and the photographs of the works coming out of them, those two things together, I knew this is what I wanted to do.”
Mr Lawrence says his finished products stir some primitive emotions. The process, he says, is “…ancient in its aesthetic qualities, simple, and basic, but it goes beyond a manufactured object.”
“This is the first kiln that humans built that were able to reach high temperatures, hot enough to melt wood ash. So you’re firing this kiln for several days. the ash from the wood settles on the shoulders of the pots, and the temperature gets significantly hotter, so hot that the ash on those pots melts.”
Lawrence says his works have a unique kind of beauty, “not something that can be applied with a brush or a sprayer, or by dunking or dipping.”
The exhibition “Resistance” opens Friday night (June 22) and continues through the end of June at the International Truck Service Gallery, next door to Goode Food Delivered at 803 Francis. They’ll offer field trips and wheel throwing demonstrations for free. Call (816) 617-7543 to make an appointment.
Some special events are planned for the opening reception Friday night, including musical performances from Lawrence’s daughter Dansare. She is one of the vocalists in a local favorite, the band “Eylit.”