Artist: Sydney Ewerth
Sydney Ewerth, Iowa
Bio
Originally from Atlanta, GA, Sydney Ewerth received her BFA from Augusta University and graduated with her MFA from The University of Alabama. She spent 6 months in Indiana as the resident artist at New Harmony Clay Project, then moved to Louisville to be the Artist in Residence, Studio Technician, and Visiting Professor at Indiana University Southeast. She is currently teaching at The University of Iowa as the Iowa Idea Visiting Assistant Professor in Ceramics.
Artist Statement
My work encompasses mixed media sculptures that echo color and fantastical architecture in a dreamscape lens. The radical presence of line and tactile surface in these sculptures are all a means to attempt communication through the senses. Through celebration of material, I explore space and structure as it is warped by shadows and time. It reflects a longing to connect and create a physical dialogue between lived and imagined space. This imagined space is where historic memory and its potential to become distorted over time exists. I utilize the ephemeral nature of shadows to depict these spaces through various media, but my sensibility with clay influences every material I involve. The crude touch captured through the clay elements allows for exploration of seriousness in the silly, presenting a humorous front that masks coy, obsessive behaviors. Utilizing gratuitous loud material shifts these rigid architectural structures to a playfully inefficient and insecure narrative. Physical mapping of line and shadow reflect dissonant repetition and my interpretation of true and secret self. By studying how shadows can twist our understanding or recognition of space and form, I hope to define what inhabits the distance imposed between two points and provide a proof of presence in the physical manifestations of growth and time. Simultaneously occupying our mental space parallel to what we believe we see, and just passing through.
Education
M.F.A. The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, August 2014 – May 2017 (Interdisciplinary; Concentration in Ceramics and Mixed Media)
B.F.A. Augusta University, Augusta, GA, August 2009 – May 2013 (Concentration in Sculpture and Ceramics)
Experience
2022 – Present Visual Art Editor, GASHER Journal, Digital
2021 – Present Iowa Idea Visiting Assistant Professor in Ceramics, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
2018 – 2021 Visiting Professor & Studio Technician, Indiana University Southeast, New Albany, IN
2015 – 2017 Part-Time Instructor, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
2014 – 2017 Graduate Teaching Assistant, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
2013 – 2014 Potter Apprentice, Tire City Potters, Augusta, GA
Solo/Group Exhibitions ( * - solo exhibitions)
2024 All That Glitters Is Dust, Gadsden Museum of Art, Gadsden, AL*
2023 Gloom Bloom, Day and Night Projects, Atlanta, GA
C.I.R.C.A. Past Curfew Pop Up, Somerset Bar, Cincinnati, OH
University of Iowa Hospital Project Art Temporary Exhibition, University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics, IA
Potted//Planted, The Green House, Iowa City, IA
Confluent Traditions, DSGN Collective, Cincinnati, OH
2022 Pick Up Brix // Between The Lines, Indy Clay Coop, Indianapolis, IN*
Ceramics Invitational Exhibition and Symposium, Ana Mendieta Gallery, Iowa City, IA
Think Pink!, Public Space One, Iowa City, IA
SHAG Web Space, Stone House Art Gallery, Online Exhibition
2021 Sticks & Bones // Ghosts of All Kinds, Ronald L. Barr Gallery, New Albany, IN *
Beyond Craft, Carolyn M. Wilson Gallery, Tampa, FL
2019 Passing By, The SpaceLab Project, New Albany, IN *
Ride or Die IV, The Miller Theater, Augusta, GA
The East Atlanta Art Stroll, AoRE, Atlanta, GA
Past Curfew, Fair State Brewing Company, Minneapolis, MN
A Crude Touch, Sheherazade Gallery, Louisville, KY
Residence, New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art, New Harmony, IN
2018 Fine Arts Faculty Biennial Exhibition, Ronald L. Barr Gallery, New Albany, IN
Ride or Die III, The Miller Theater, Augusta, GA
White Plates, NCECA, Pittsburgh, PN
2017 Ramblin’, SOUP Experimental Gallery, Tallahassee, FL *
This Then This, Sella-Granata Art Gallery, Tuscaloosa, AL *
2016 It’s There, I Swear, Sella-Granata Art Gallery, Tuscaloosa, AL *
Group Exhibition: Alabama Clay Conference, Gadsden Museum of Art, Gadsden, AL
2015 Fresh Meat Starts to Stink, Sella-Granata Art Gallery, Tuscaloosa, AL
Juried Exhibitions
2021 Swift As Sword, Parallelogram Gallery, Tampa, FL
2020 Filled Up, New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art, New Harmony, IN
2019 Waist Deep, Tempus Projects, Tampa, FL
Mugshot2: 2nd International Biennial, Mojo Coffee Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
2018 18x18, Aqua Art Miami: ArtHelix & Ceramic International, Miami, FL
9th International Painting and Mixed Media Exhibition, Lessedra Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2017 NCECA National Student Juried Exhibition, Hoffman Gallery, Portland, OR
2016 Seeds, Westobou Gallery, Augusta, GA
Next Up, Next Gallery, Denver, CO
2015 Cup of Comfort International Ceramics Biannual, NEIE Art Gallery, Falmouth, MA
The Almighty Cup, Gandee Gallery, Fabius, NY
Mug Shots: 7th Annual Juried Cup Exhibition, LUX Center for the Arts, Lincoln, NE
Graphic Clay: A Survey of Illustrated, Printed, and Innovative Surfaces, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD
1st Annual Dirty South Mug Competition, River Oaks Arts Center, Alexandria, LA
2012 Annual Juried Art Show, Mary S. Byrd Gallery, Augusta, GA
Residencies
2018 – 2021 Indiana University Southeast, New Albany, IN
2018 New Harmony Clay Project, New Harmony, IN
Artist Lectures/Visiting Artist Workshops ( * - lectures)
2022 The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
Augusta University, Augusta, GA*
2021 Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO*
2019 Louisville Clay, Louisville, KY*
2018 Working Men’s Institute, New Harmony, IN*
University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, IN*
2017 NCECA Conference, Portland, OR*
2016 NCECA Conference, Kansas City, MO*
2015 Augusta University, Augusta, GA
Curator/Organizer
2024 Gasher Ekphrastic Featured Artist Exhibition, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
2023 Potted//Planted, The Green House, Iowa City, IA
LUSHLY : SATELLITE, The Green House, Iowa City, IA
LUSHLY Juried Exhibition, NCECA, Cincinnati, OH
2022 LUSH Juried Exhibition, Westobou, Augusta, GA
2020 NCECA 2020: HIND-SITE, Richmond, VA *postponed due to COVID-19
Publications/Writings/Awards
2023 GASHER Spring 2023 Issue: Matthew McDole, Gasher Journal, Online
2022 GASHER Fall 2022 Issue: Daphne Sweet, Gasher Journal, Online
GASHER Summer 2022 Issue: Christina Kwan, Gasher Journal, Online
GASHER Spring 2022 Issue: Mei Lam So, Gasher Journal, Online
2017 NCECA National Student Juried Exhibition, Exhibition Catalogue, Print
Musing About Mud, Emerging Artist, Digital Publication
2016 Posit: A Journal of Literature and Art, Issue #9, Digital Publication
2020 Best Visual Artist in Louisville: 3rd Place, The Leo Weekly, Readers’ Choice Awards, Louisville, KY