PORT ANGELES — A solo exhibit of the work of sculptor Crista Ann Ames opened last week and will run through Oct. 25 at Peninsula College’s PUB Gallery of Art.
Both the solo exhibition and a presentation by the artist at 12:30 p.m. Oct. 25 are free and open to the public at the gallery, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., according to a news release.
The artist said her work explores how “our animal nature relates to the ways we establish and sustain personal relationships through the layering of mythology, iconography and personal narrative.
“I find that the integration of both permanent and impermanent materials conveys my interest in approaches to memory, loss and transformation,” Ames said.
“Just as the act of remembering transforms an experience into something different, time degrades some elements and leaves others to endure.”
Raised on a small farm in Washington, Ames often draws on her own experiences to explore pastoral life, animal husbandry, women’s craft and fertility.
Ames attended Washington State University where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in ceramics with a minor in art history and disability studies.
She attended Utah State University for graduate studies in ceramics.
While working on a master’s from the University of Montana, she began studies in studio dance and movement to help inform the way she sculpts the figure.
She has been an artist in residence at A.I.R. Valluaris in France, Guldagergaard International Ceramics Research Center in Denmark, the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Mont., and the Clay Studio of Missoula.
Ames is now a long-term resident at Red Lodge Clay Center.
“In bridging the gap between myth and experience, I utilize my artistic practice to create altogether new stories that tell contemporary tales of trauma, joy and womanhood,” Ames said.
For more information, contact Michael Paul Miller at mpmiller@pencol.edu.
