Proximal Verdure
by HP Bloomer & Sam Oliver
On display in the CCC Gallery
March 11th - April 12th, 2024
First Friday Reception Event
April 5th | 6-8PM
Proximal Verdure highlights HP Bloomer & Sam Oliver’s shared interest in depicting native plant species as a means of environmental awareness and education. Mainly working in the realm of functional ceramics, each artist’s aesthetic differs while achieving the same decorative outcome.
Exhibition generously sponsored by:
BIOGRAPHY
HP Bloomer attended the University of North Texas where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2007 and a Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics in 2011. His work focuses on highly decorated utilitarian forms which draw inspiration from his interest in architecture, 20th and 21st century painters and designers, fashion, and nature. His most recent work explores flora and narrative through the use of abstracted patterning to highlight indigenous and native plant life. He has been an Artist in Residence at The Carbondale Clay Center, Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts, and Cobb Mountain Art & Ecology Project.
ARTIST STATEMENT
HP Bloomer has lived in Colorado, New Mexico, California, and Texas and is currently influenced by his experience at the Cobb Mountain Art Ecology Project in Northern California. During this residency he worked to better understand and promote native plant species while rehabilitating 80 acres of previously logged forest that he lived in. This experience fostered an interest in exploring the interface between human development and local ecology. Through the use of decorative, textile inspired, patterning his work incorporates abstracted motifs which juxtaposition nature and elements of architecture. These motifs vacillate between the experiences he has had in different places he has lived, incorporating elements that have gained importance with each experience.
BIOGRAPHY
After graduating with her BFA from Winthrop University, SC in 2013, Sam Oliver attended a short term residency at William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. From there she completed a year and a half long residency at The Bascom: Center for Visual Arts in Highlands, NC, then moved to Pennsylvania for a six month residency at Brockway Center for Arts and Technology. She is currently working as a full time potter and educator out of her home studio in Tryon, NC.
ARTIST STATEMENT
While living in Western North Carolina her interest in the native plant population grew. In higher elevations of the Appalachian mountains are vast temperate rainforests which support diverse ecosystems. Using ceramic vessels, Sam implements layered surfaces of high contrast to display the nuances of living amongst native and invasive foliage and plant life dependent on temperate rainforest biome, while reflecting on the complications of deforestation due to industrial agriculture and expansion.
About the Carbondale Clay Center Ceramic Art Gallery
Carbondale Clay Center’s ceramic art gallery hosts some of the most enthralling pottery and ceramics exhibitions in the entire Roaring Fork Valley and Western Slope. The gallery’s schedule features a diverse set of local, regional, and national artists on a rotating basis. While the bulk of the work displayed in the gallery is that of ceramic artists, the gallery occasionally features the work of artists using other mediums.
“The Carbondale Clay Center Gallery’s mission is to educate, nourish, and inspire the public by providing an open and welcoming exhibition space of creativity, learning, and growth that showcases emerging and established ceramic artists.”