Ken Vavrek + Charles R. Croft III

Ken Vavrek:
Bio Statement: Ken Vavrek has been a practicing ceramic artist for nearly 40 years. He teaches in Philadelphia at Moore College of Art and Design. In 1974 he helped found The Clay Studio with the help of four of his students. His clay work is primarily glazed stoneware, slab built and in many formats, the most prominent being wall sculpture. He has received a National Endowment for Crafts as well as several Pennsylvania Crafts Fellowships. He has been in many significant group and solo shows over the years, including shows at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts, NYC; The Everson, Syracuse, NY; The Renwick, Washington D.C.; The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Philadelphia and the Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia.

Artist Statement: In recent years my art has continued to focus on wall sculptures, which, these days, include organic abstract forms juxtaposed with rectilinear forms. The compositional movement has been toward more linear structures and more open space. My "bonsai" piece incorporates a wall sculpture with forms growing down from a rectilinear shelf. A double wall container, which will hold a Ponderosa Pine by Chuck Croft, will sit on top of the shelf. I feel the composition of the wall sculpture counterpoints the wonderful cantilevered thrust of the Ponderosa Pine. The double wall container relates to the organic forms developed below the shelf.