Press Release - "Pet Rock" by Paige Valentine
Paige Valentine
”Dog Tower”
Ceramic sculpture
18x 11 x 9.5 inches
2022
info@part2gallery.com
pt.2 Gallery
“Pet Rock”
A solo exhibition by
Paige Valentine
Opening Reception
Saturday, February 12th
Appointment Only 11 - 5pm
Public Opening Reception 6-9 pm
Showing Through March 4th, 2022
Schedule Private Viewing
pt. 2 Gallery is excited to present Pet Rock a solo exhibition of new sculptures by Paige Valentine. This is Valentine’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. Draped with a pervading sense of the eternal, contrasted by an underlying humor and sentimentality, Paige Valentine’s beautifully crafted ceramics blur time, space and our resultant emotions with a deft hand. Within Pet Rock, Valentine unveils a new body of work that continues upon themes from past exhibitions, namely a fixation on objects ripe with nostalgia and spiritual weight–inspired by kitsch and readymade trinkets, yet distilling these influences into meticulously handcrafted ceramic ruminations. However the artist’s more recent innovations and explorations, namely the broad use of a technique in which surfaces are built up and carved into a medieval rockwall-like texture, coupled with delving into deeper realms of ceramic knowledge through different high fire techniques such as soda ash firing, all combine to yield a wildly innovative new series by the Oakland based artist.
Within the exhibition space Valentine’s ceramics dot a series of tiered open pedestals that rise successively in height, providing an amphitheater-like viewing experience of the complete works, yet each piece rewards a closer viewing. Within every hewn rock pitcher, handled jug, or chimney form sitting atop a bespoke base are alcoves that house intimate treasures embodying an emotional tenderness that plays perfectly against the hard exteriors. Nestled in an archway shaped opening, a winged angel clutches a dog sitting at foot, the canine operating as a symbol of protection, fidelity and unconditional love that repeats throughout the exhibition and the artist’s work at large. The utilitarian vessel is also a constant throughout the exhibition, speaking to the history of ceramics but also to a humility inherent in these objects, despite their fine art connotation these are things to be handled and loved. Yet by infusing these forms with a function past simply holding or pouring liquids, acting as vitrines or containers for the symbolic mementos they hold, they each morph into a spiritual carrier of sorts–contemporary reliquaries for Valentine’s precious emotive creations.
Paige Valentine
”Carrot Garage”
Ceramic sculpture
12 x 14.5 x 5.5 inches
2022
info@part2gallery.com
The color palette throughout Pet Rock should also be noted, with its earthtones, deep grays, metallic blues and tans. These are the results of midfire glazes on some pieces and an atmospheric firing process on others; a technique in which a specialized mixture of sodium carbonate is sprayed into an almost 2300 degree kiln, creating a chemical reaction with the elements in the clay yielding deeply varied hues and textures. These finishes embody the experimentation and chance inherent in the ceramic process, perfectly fitting with the theme of rocks and natural materials. Yet despite that intricate and exhausting firing process and its often moodier results, the artist is quick to contrast bright pops of glazed color with an orange carrot car or a white, black and yellow Snoopy and Woodstock, speaking to an independence within a discipline that can often overly adhere to dogmatic principles.
Pathos, earnestness and memory are qualities inherent to handbuilt ceramics and Valentine’s works in Pet Rock elegantly double down on these characteristics, perhaps best embodied by a pair of handled jugs that sit atop a footed base titled simply “BFF”. The craggy surfaces give way to handles that were built to interlock, a pair inextricably linked, leaning on and holding one another, while two dogs nestled in a small opening in the larger stare out at their surroundings reinforcing a sense of companionship and tenderness that reverberates with the viewer long after they’ve left the exhibition.
Paige Valentine, lives and works in Oakland, CA. She received her BFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2018. She makes ceramic sculptures that center around themes of kinship, memory, and dogs.