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#270 How Travel Shapes Art w/ Monica Rickhoff Wilson
42 Plays2 years ago
Get ready to be captivated as we spotlight the phenomenal Monica Rickhoff Wilson in our latest episode! Monica, acclaimed for her unique cluster-themed sculptures, shares her harmonious blend of chemistry and art, creating a symphony of shapes and structures. With the precision of a chemist and the passion of an artist, she introduces us to the critical role a specific type of wire plays in her work, drawing us into her world of creativity.
Our journey with Monica takes us to the heart of India, where she attended an artist residency that transformed her creative process. She paints a vivid picture of the Indian potters she encountered, their relentless work ethic, and contrasts this to her experiences in the United States. As we journey back, Monica speaks about how travel and residencies have not only shaped her artistry but also her self-perception. Committed to encouraging everyone to find and use their unique voice, Monica shares her thoughts on self-expression and its far-reaching impact. Her infectious enthusiasm spills over to her Instagram account, a vibrant showcase of her creative process. Join us and experience how Monica Rickhoff Wilson is using her voice and her art to inspire change and make a positive impact in the world. You can learn more about Monica by checking out her instagram @monicawilsonart
Top 3 Value Bombs:
1. Monica Rickhoff Wilson provides an intriguing insight into how her experiences in India significantly impacted her creative process. She emphasizes the stark difference in work ethic and materials used in Indian pottery, particularly the use of raw clay, compared to the processed clay commonly used in the United States. These experiences inspired her to blend art and chemistry, resulting in unique cluster-themed sculptures.
2. The importance of self-expression and authenticity is a prominent theme throughout the episode. Monica encourages listeners to embrace their unique voice and not be afraid to share it with the world. She stresses the idea that everyone's voice and artistic expression are valuable and can make a positive impact on the world.
3. Monica shares her unique approach to creating her cluster-themed sculptures, which includes a specific type of wire and a special firing process. This level of detail provides listeners with a behind-the-scenes look at her creative process and highlights the precision and scientific approach she applies to her art.
and so much more:
Resources:
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Transcript
The Role of Artist Residencies
00:00:00
Speaker
I think doing artist residencies and meeting other makers and not just in clay has been incredibly valuable because it can get you to think about a problem you've been trying to solve in a new way. What is up, Shaping Nation? This is Nick Torres
Interview with Monica Rickoff-Wilson: Her Artistic Journey
00:00:14
Speaker
here. And on this episode of Shaping and Pottery, I got to interview Monica Rickoff-Wilson. Monica makes some really incredible cluster-themed sculptures. In this episode, you will learn how Monica creates her cluster-themed sculptures as she goes into great detail on it.
00:00:30
Speaker
You also learn about her time attending a residency in India and finally also learn about this very specific wire that helps Monica create her cluster sculptures. There's so much more in this episode. I hope you guys enjoy it and I'll see you guys in there. Monica, welcome to Shaping Your Pottery and share with me what is something you love besides making pottery. Oh I love a lot of things but right now I really love riding my bike.
00:00:58
Speaker
I'm living in Michigan and I do gravel riding. So I've got a gravel bike and it's one way I can get outdoors and see the fields and see the sky and hear birds. It's my favorite thing. Absolutely love it.
Monica's Artistic Beginnings and Passion for Clay
00:01:12
Speaker
So tell me the story how you got started making pottery. It was a really long time ago. I'm 47 years old now and I was I think age eight.
00:01:24
Speaker
And I must have seen something somewhere. And I just went to my mom and I said, Hey, I want to make a coral pot. How do I do that? Where do I do that? And she found a class at the local civic center and signed me up. And I just, I haven't left it since. I feel like it's a material that I've gotten really comfortable with. I have left it at times. I've gone into fashion design and into photography and mixed media, but I've found my way back to clay each time.
Experiences in Jaipur: Learning Unique Pottery Techniques
00:01:54
Speaker
So tell me about the story when you attended a residency in Jaipur, India. I hope I said that right. Jaipur, Jaipur, India. That was an incredible experience. I was able to go to India multiple times working with my husband and a crew, a bunch of paleontologists that were there looking for dinosaur bones in different areas of India. And one area we got to go work in was in Jaipur.
00:02:22
Speaker
there is a website called resarts.org and if you look on that site you can find artist residencies all over the world. So when I knew I was going to India multiple times I started to seek out residencies and I found this place called Art in Jaipur and they typically host people who've got Fulbright scholarships but I just walked in and said hey I'm in town
00:02:48
Speaker
Can you help connect me with any of the local potters or the artists around here? And the woman working there is amazing and she had contacts with all different forms of art. And I was able to meet Cripple Coombe, the family there, Cripple Coombe Pottery. And the father had been practicing blue pottery for years and years and years and had recently passed and his daughters took over. So I got to work with his two daughters.
00:03:15
Speaker
learned about their clay body, which was really unusual. It had a lot of felds bar in it and it was fired low, but it still would vitrify the temperature they were firing to. And they were doing a lot of decorative work on the surfaces, a lot of narrative design, which is something I'd never played with. So I got to explore some of that while I was there. Absolutely love that. So how does this experience impact the way you make your own pottery? I
Impact of Indian Pottery on Monica's Work
00:03:41
Speaker
think every time that I've traveled, I've learned something new.
00:03:45
Speaker
And I think for me being in India, I started to think through how different it was to, or how differently they use the material there or how they were interacting on another level that I felt like I hadn't done at all in the States. I feel like here in the States, I learned how to use an electric pottery wheel and my clay came in boxes and it was very, you know, erred and stiff.
00:04:10
Speaker
and pure or didn't have any aggregate material in it or organics. And in India, one of the village potters I got to work with in Balasanar, it was a family that had lived right next to the area where there was beautiful clay right in the ground. And so they would dig their clay and they would mix there or they wouldn't mix it. They would just dig it directly out of the ground and they used it with all of the organic materials left in it and all of that would burn away. And the resulting piece was this very porous
00:04:40
Speaker
low-fired earthenware that was absolutely beautiful. They were making functional pieces for the village, for the people they lived around. And one of the items that I loved so much was this chai teacup. And it was so simple, it was thrown super fast, really loose and beautiful. Fired low temperature, aggregates burned out, our organics burned out, and what was left is this really thin porous cup.
00:05:05
Speaker
you quickly drink your hot chai and then you could throw the cup on the ground and it just disintegrated back into the earth.
The Chemistry of Art: Creating Cluster Sculptures
00:05:11
Speaker
I just thought, what a great disposable cup. So I think I took all of that with me back to the States and also the work ethic there. I just feel like the potters there, their bodies were built for what they were doing. And they were throwing on these huge mobile pottery wheels that was just like a spinning top and it had a heavy cement ring around the outside of the center
00:05:35
Speaker
wheel head and they would just spin it on the ground like a top with a big stick. And then they'd have to crouch over this huge spinning mass of cement and throw on the wheel. So they were just so wiry and strong. And I thought, you know, who am I? I'm back in the States just sitting on my butt. It's so easy to, to throw when I've got this electric wheel. And so I just, I really developed a better work ethic thinking that, you know, I just hadn't done much yet and I hadn't worked that hard.
00:06:04
Speaker
until I saw how hard they worked and how dedicated they were. Absolutely love that. So let's talk about your pottery. In one sentence, can you tell me what you make? Yes. I combine chemistry and art and I make pieces that are about comfort and desire. Absolutely love that. So tell me the story how you started making this type of pottery that you make today.
00:06:31
Speaker
The most recent work is what I'm really excited about. And that is these conglomerate pieces that are clusters or collections. And each pieces is built individually and fired individually. And I've started to suspend each item in the kiln with these new shelves that have holes in them. And, and so by suspending each piece, I can glaze it in the round and then post firing, attach all the pieces together.
00:06:58
Speaker
and create this moving piece that can be held and shifted in the home. And I think that goes back to the idea of thinking about your work and making these small objects that you can hold, is I love the idea of art being functional and something that you get to really interact with in your house instead of, you know, at the domestic scale, instead of having another object in your home that you just have to shift around and dust. I don't like that idea. I think I just, I wanted to build something that was a little bit
00:07:26
Speaker
different and more tangible. I love that so much. So you are inspired by memories of materials. Can you tell me more about this? Yes. The recent line of work that I'm doing that clusters and clutches are all originally related to my mother's home decor.
00:07:49
Speaker
And I think it's just because that's what I grew up around. So that's what I know. And that's just one of those core memories I have. And I think I'm also very particularly attracted to materials, that the surface texture, that the heat it gives off, the smell of it, of that material and the feel of it, it's all really important to me and it's locked in my memory. And so I have all this collection of memories of this industrial kitchen material or whatever it was, like the plastic decorative
00:08:19
Speaker
fruits my mom had in her home for Thanksgiving. She would put out this cornucopia basket and she'd stuff it with plastic fruits that I guess show abundance during Thanksgiving time. And in that basket, I was attracted to these little grapes, these little plastic grapes, and I'd pop them off and chew them. And they suctioned my cheeks and my mouth around my tongue.
00:08:42
Speaker
And so it's even a bigger memory now to me. And so I was working on a big show with a friend of mine and I started thinking through that memory and just that object. And I started throwing these orbs and then they became clusters and I started building them together. And then I started, you know, it started growing from there and becoming a little bit bigger and expanding. But in the end, I think it all goes back to this idea of having these domestic scale items.
00:09:08
Speaker
that are in your home that make you feel better or remind you of nature or are more than that original object. So it's more than a cluster of grapes. It's now this vibrant, colorful, juicy, beautiful that you've got a collection of. So the idea too of having something in a hutch that you treasure and you collect because the material is so beautiful and you just want to contain and keep it and hold it. And I'm curious about that too. Like why do we have to?
00:09:37
Speaker
collect something when we see something beautiful in nature. For instance, if I go on a walk on the beach and I see a gorgeous seashell, I have to take it home. I have to put that in my pocket and get it back home and then put it where? I don't know. Then I've got all these collections at home of all these shiny objects. So I'm really curious about that. This need as a human to keep and hold onto things that are beautiful.
00:10:05
Speaker
Yeah, that is interesting. We're all cave people with their fire. It's a little bit more advanced now.
Techniques and Materials: Kanthal Wire in Art
00:10:11
Speaker
So can you walk me through how you create your cluster sculptures? Yes. The new ones that move, like I mentioned before, I guess I'm calling them sculptures in the round, where there's no bottom or top to these pieces. So they can be held, they can be shifted and moved.
00:10:30
Speaker
And when you position them, when you set them down, they can look different the way that you set them down. So they can be taller, shorter, whatever. And I really love that. So those new pieces, I'll walk you through that process. I first throw all of the hollow forms and right now they're very orb shaped. They originally, some of these forms started to come from the idea of all the little droplets on a mulberry or on a blackberry.
00:10:56
Speaker
And so I started to think about that shape and how could all those items pack in together if you put them in a cluster in one piece. But then I'll take an inspiration from something else. Like my most recent red sculpture is inspired by the barberry. It's this beautiful little oval shaped berry that grows on these decorative plants. We take them as decorative plants, but they're actually medicinal in other cultures.
00:11:20
Speaker
So this, this barberry shape or this drooplet shape is thrown on the potter's wheel hollow. If they're really tiny, I'll use a little throwing stick. And if they're larger, I can throw it like a regular pot and I just close it at the top. So it's a perfect hollow form. I let those set up and then I put them back on the wheel upside down in a clay chuck. And so that holds it and I can trim the top. So the top is perfectly rounded just like the bottom.
00:11:48
Speaker
And then I use Kanthal wire, this high temperature wire, and I bend my own wire, I make little U shapes, and then I'll put that into one side of that little berry. And then those pieces get bisqued and I'll make hundreds at a time. After they're bisqued, then I have to have another little piece of hardware to hold that berry from the wire and I'll dip it into a glaze. And it's tricky because it's hollow,
00:12:15
Speaker
So now when I go dip it into a glaze, it wants to float up. So that's kind of a problem feelings right now too. So I'll dip each one in a glaze. And then I have this special shelf that I bought that is three quarter inch thick. I think it's quarter, right? It's beautiful and has holes in it. And so now I will add a little wire that hooks onto the berry. That's also Cantal.
00:12:40
Speaker
And then I'll put it through the hole in the shelf. And then on top of that shelf, I've got a post that's a rod, a cantal rod. And so now that berry is hanging suspended under the shelf, like a little chrysalis. So I'll put like 25 or 30 of those hanging below a shelf. Then I'll load the shelf and everything's hanging below. And I can stack more pots on top of the shelf, which I want, which is amazing.
00:13:06
Speaker
fire that round and then I get these glazed pieces out that are just like these little berry gems are beautiful and then I already built something else this thing called that I'm calling a seed and it's made out of terracotta and it's hand built and I put little you can't all rings all over that fire that and so I have a seed that has all these can't fire can't all loops on it
00:13:32
Speaker
And then I have the berry that has a cantal loop on it. And then I sew or I string each of those together. So all of the glazed berries are attached to the center seat that you don't see when the sculpture is completed. That's it. That was a very interesting explanation of that. I actually enjoyed that. So where can people get this cantal wire that you've been talking about? OK. Who sells it? Kemper Tools.
00:14:02
Speaker
wire. Amazon sells cantal. You can get it in all different gauges. It's pretty affordable right now on Amazon because I guess it's the 26 to 22 gauge wire is used in vape pens. So you can buy reels of it on Amazon. Yeah, I use all different gauges because I'm using center gauge for each little piece that's strung up in the kiln and then 17 gauge for the berries and the seeds.
00:14:33
Speaker
I absolutely love that. So let's talk about discovering your voice. You contribute your growth as an artist to traveling and being around other artists. Can you tell me more about this?
Artistic Growth Through Residencies and Interaction
00:14:42
Speaker
Yes, yes. I think the other important thing outside of just being free to travel and learning about other cultures and materials and how people move about in the world, I feel like that's really influenced the way that I see myself here in the States and the way that I grew up. I think doing artist residencies and meeting other makers
00:15:02
Speaker
and not just in clay has been incredibly valuable because it can get you to think about a problem you've been trying to solve in a new way. And so I feel like every time I've met another group of artists or I've been to a residency and I see how their studio is set up or I meet the other artists and see how they carry their tools or what tools they have or what new materials they're trying to use, I always learn something. I can connect it to my work no matter what, even if it's in another
00:15:30
Speaker
Material I'll learn something, you know, it could be small but really valuable and it'll help change my practice Absolutely love that shaping nation if you can get around other makers other potters Your potter is gonna grow and your skills are gonna grow and you're just gonna be able to meet a lot of different cool people I love that so much So what would you say was your biggest obstacle when it came to discovering your voice?
Believing in Your Artistic Voice
00:15:54
Speaker
I think the most difficult thing for me to get over as an artist was to realize that I
00:16:00
Speaker
that I don't have to filter or edit myself. Is that, well, let me say this a different way. I think the most important thing was to realize that what I had to say was interesting and good. And that I didn't have to, I didn't have to filter that or change that for other people. I met someone once when I was in my twenties, really young and I was in fashion school at the time.
00:16:27
Speaker
And, and I was kind of embarrassed to show my work and I said, Oh, I'm working on these, you know, costumes are kind of weird that, you know, who really needs this? And he said, and he said, you should, you should make your art people dig it. And that's all I said. And it was so simple, but I've heard that in my head over and over that, you know, get your work out there, make it and just, you know, give it a try. And you're human, you're going to connect in some way to some people somewhere and they're going to dig it. Don't worry about that.
00:16:56
Speaker
absolutely reshaping Asian. Make the pottery that you want to make because that's how you find your voice. I love that. What advice would you give to someone that is looking to discover their own unique voice with their pottery? Hmm. I would say that you have a thread in your work and in your life that's always been with you and it's never going to go away. And that can be a great comfort. I think once you realize that that that that that your own voice has always been there and it always will be there.
00:17:26
Speaker
And so you have that source no matter what you do and where you go. So I think just being honest with that voice and not being afraid that maybe people won't like it, it doesn't matter. There are so many people on the planet that will like it. You don't have to worry about the people that don't. I absolutely agree. As we're coming to a close here today, what is one thing you want to hammer home with my audience?
Sharing Your Work Openly
00:17:48
Speaker
Oh, I think get out there. And after the pandemic or during the pandemic, I think I had a shift in my own life where I just thought,
00:17:56
Speaker
Man, there's not enough time. There's not much time left maybe, you know? So don't, don't wait. I would say the biggest thing is don't wait. Just, just get your voice out there and, and, and don't hide it away. Don't keep it boxed up at home. Don't, you know, don't hide away your process. Um, I think share with people because we're all learning from one another and, and it's, it's interesting to see who you are.
00:18:21
Speaker
Absolutely. Some excellent parting words of advice. Monica, it was really great chatting today. Where can my artists go and learn more about you?
Connecting with Monica Online
00:18:29
Speaker
Oh, I have a website called mo hyphen wilson.com. And on my Instagram, I'm really active. I show all my processes on that on Instagram, and I'm pretty interactive there. And it's been a lot of fun. So that's Monica Wilson art.
00:18:45
Speaker
I hope you enjoyed this episode of Shaping Your Pottery with Nick Torres. If you would like to support the Shaping Your Pottery podcast, then go to shapingyourpottery.com forward slash donate and anything is appreciated. You could also click the link in the description. This is going to allow me to to create more and better episodes for you. I hope you guys enjoy this episode and I'll see you guys in the next one.