“Opening,” 38”X18”X5”, 2018, Ceramic/mixed media.
Who: Sharon Hardy breathes life into the traditional world of ceramics by pushing the medium beyond customary vessel forms. This Southern California native creates unexpected, complex compositions influenced by the elements and cycles of the natural world.
What: Hardy’s recent series “Looking Deep” investigates the process of slowing down and meditating on the elements of chaos, order, growth and decay found in nature. Form, texture and patterns fuel her inspiration. Her finished ceramic wall sculptures and pedestal pieces are a result of her intuitive response to the awe she feels from the intricacies and nuances of the ecosphere.
How: Hardy’s ceramic works are labor- and time-intensive, requiring a lot of hard, repetitive work. The process involves mixing clay and glazes, making, trimming, decorating, loading kilns, firing, unloading, assembling, etc. Many of her compositions combine over 300 individual ceramic elements. Every piece is hand-formed, bisque-fired, often glazed and fired again. Each small ceramic element is then intricately wired onto an armature to create the final assembled wall sculpture.
Quoted: “Working with clay teaches patience and non-attachment. The material process of clay mimics the cyclical quality of the natural world. It makes you slow down and lose your sense of time, serving as a reminder that everything in life does not have to be a race.”
Noted: Hardy’s preoccupation with clay as a medium took root decades ago, but she found time and space to practice ceramics only in the past 10 years. She has shown extensively throughout California and is in several collections around the country.
Hopes: “In today’s fast-paced world that is saturated with distractions, I hope that my work brings about a meditative sense of calm and beauty to the viewer.”
:: sharonhardyceramics.com
