LIFE IN CLAY
Tammy Garcia (Santa Clara)
King Galleries hosts an exhibition showcasing new works by Santa Clara potter Tammy Garcia.
SANTA FE, NM
Tammy Garcia is famous for her intricately carved and designed pottery. Each coil-built piece is carefully designed into numerous sections. Using the entire surface of the vessel as her canvas, she tells “stories” through her work.
For the past five years she has been pushing and changing the artistry on her pottery. Not content to “stay the same,” her new work expands on her older styles, ultimately building up to breakthrough into something new: layers.
“We hear the term ‘layers’ and think about levels and a progression of one idea on top of another. I love to have options. To me the ‘layers’ are options. It’s about quality,” says Garcia. “Native clay takes effort to dig and refine and temper. There are layers in just making the clay pure enough to coil a vessel.
Because of that, with the little clay I have, my mindset has been quality not quantity.”
An exhibition at King Galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico, highlights new works in pottery by Garcia. The pieces featured in the show contrast each other beautifully—pots of earthly oranges and smoky blacks intricately carved with various designs elevate one another, especially when placed side by side.
“My love for jewelry also reveals itself in the clay,” Garcia continues. “I want to make each piece I make precious, jewel-like. My new ‘pillow effect’ is really tapering. It’s achieved in the carving process. I do it so that the area surrounding the carved designs is higher and the edges are recessed. It makes the carving more delicate but also less fragile. I love detail.”
The artist delves into her style as a potter, explaining that while she’s worked in a plethora of mediums including glass, jewelry and bronze, she’s always looking at things with a “potter’s eye.” “My creativity comes from my heritage. Learning to make pottery from my mother (Linda Cain) and grandmother (Mary Cain) was a very inspiring childhood,” says Garcia. “Growing up around art and knowing I’m part of a pottery legacy inspires my work.”
Layers: Life in Clay will be on view April 18 to May 2. An artist lecture takes place April 18 from 1 to 2 p.m.