Lee Rexrode: Emerging Forms in Ceramics

Holstein Gallery
October 15, 2010 through January 15, 2011

A free public opening reception will be held
during Gallery Night, Friday, December 3, 2010
from 7–10 p.m.

Ceramist Lee Rexrode’s vessels embody simplicity and clarity. “Rather than adding more,” he notes, “I tend to minimalize design elements as I strive to achieve the essence or purity of an idea.” He also appreciates the serendipitous aspect of the ceramic process, and capitalizes on it in his creations. “I am interested in various ways of depicting contrast. I like how porcelain brightens glazes and I salt-fire my work in search of subtle variations of color around my pottery forms. In other words, I enjoy discovering something on one side of
a pot that cannot be seen by viewing it from only one vantage point.”

Rexrode’s travels and teaching experience have reinforced this pursuit of formal simplicity. In 2001, a lecture tour to several Chinese institutions allowed him to research contemporary and historical Chinese ceramics—the inspiration for clay artists the world over for centuries. He has also traveled in Spain and Portugal, where he studied Iberian architecture and the unique ceramic tiles that adorn it. On his most recent sabbatical, he traveled in the United States, visiting outstanding collections and artists’ studios.

His expertise is in altered wheel-thrown pottery. “In the mid-1980s, I made some pots with split rims. Over the years, these rims have become exaggerated, creating the illusion of one form resting inside another.
At times, these are seen as one form emerging from another ‘shell’. ”

Rexrode earned his Master of Fine Arts degree at Rochester Institute of Technology and has been teaching ceramics for the past 28 years. He is currently Professor of Ceramics at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.