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Peter Meyer — ceramics

The Arts Center Exhibit(s):

• '9th Around Oregon Annual Exhibition,' October, 2011

Statement:

The primary focus of my ceramic work is in refining the shapes and surfaces in preparation for the actions of the wood fire. I start with a simple shape of pleasing proportion, paying close attention to surface qualities. The proportions of each shape guide the surface and graphic treatments, which include incised lines, inlaid lines or areas of texture or color. Because the wood ash and intense heat combine to create unpredictable effects on the clay, I seek a concise resolution before the fire. Subjecting the work to such natural forces is a given in the ceramic process, but wood firing pushes the possibilities.

Biography:

Peter Meyer received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics and Printmaking from The University of South Dakota and a Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the University of Oregon. He has traveled extensively in South Dakota, Oregon and Japan, doing workshops and residencies in ceramics, printmaking, photography and drawing. He has taught ceramics, printmaking, concept and figure drawing, 3D design, and figure sculpture at Black Hills State College, the U of O, OSU-Cascades, and Central Oregon Community College (COCC). He is adjunct instructor of ceramics and figure sculpture at COCC.

Last February, as a class exercise, he and his students benefited Greg Mortenson’s Central Asia Institute with a donation of $1800 through the production of tea-cup sets.

Meyer has exhibited extensively in the Northwest, California, and Japan and his work has been featured in Japanese Architecture, Gourmet, 500 Sculptures in Clay, Drawing as Expression, and A World of Art. His work is in numerous public and private collections.
 “Woodfired work has dominated my clay output for several years. It is a labor-intensive practice and I find the community aspect of the entire process, from wood gathering and cutting to the fire itself, very stimulating. This work is distinguished from more traditional wood fired ceramics by my use of simplified, austere shapes with carefully prepared surfaces. I keep the shapes simple to more fully reveal the actions of the flame and ash on the surface. I feel this honors the primacy of the process and the fire. The object becomes a repository of the extensive action of the 100 hour immersion in flame.”

Affiliated organizations and galleries:

• Touchstone Gallery, Yachats, Oregon