Ceramic art exhibit opens with reception Jan. 31

“Trappings,” an exhibit of ceramic art by Sarah Gross, will be featured Jan. 31 to March 6 in Caestecker Galley, C.J. Rodman Center for the Arts, at Ripon College. The exhibit will open with an artist’s talk at 7 p.m. Jan. 31.

“Trappings” is presented as part of the College’s Caestecker Fine Arts Series. Gallery hours are 1-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 7-9 p.m. Saturday and 2-6 p.m. Sunday.

Gross earned her bachelor’s degree from Carleton College and her master of fine arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, and her work is included in collections at the University of Costa Rica, the Shiwan Ceramic Museum in Foshan, China, and the U.S. Department of State.

She currently is an assistant professor of ceramics at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.
In her work, Gross explores physical closeness and emotional distance. Her ceramic sculpture and installation reveals a discomfort with, and longing for intimacy.

“I create encounters where the viewer must question how they fit into the structure, making the act of looking more self-aware,” Gross says. “Closeness does not establish intimacy. I grew up in New York City, always sharing space with people I did not know. The contradiction of physical density and emotional distance made me feel simultaneously alienated by and enamored with millions of strangers. I explore this conflict by making work that manifests invisible dividers and destabilizes familiar relationships, making the unknown known, and the known unknown.”