Ann Korologos Gallery presents Michael Wisner: Form & Texture a pop-up exhibition exploring the hand-coiled ceramics by Michael Wisner. Formed from local, hand-dug, hand-made clay from the Roaring Fork Valley, the artist meticulously carves each pot with patterns of sacred geometry observed in nature and translated to clay. The exhibition is on view December 4th through December 31st in complement to Impressions and Expressions at Ann Korologos Gallery in historic downtown Basalt, CO and virtually at korologosgallery.com.
Born and raised in Maryland, Wisner spent his early adult life working in cancer research until, at the age of 25, he followed the call to life as an artist. His path would ultimately take him to California, Mexico, and Colorado to study at the ISOMATA School in Idyllwild, pursue a 15-year mentorship and lifelong friendship with Juan Quezada. Wisner has created a home base and studio in the Roaring Fork Valley where he digs the clay to create his ceramic pots and finds endless inspiration in the bountiful natural world of the Roaring Fork Valley.
During his mentorship with Quezada, Wisner learned to make clay from the land and paint pots in the traditional technique, all the while contemplating Quezada’s mentality to learn the traditional techniques and then step into one’s own style. “That’s the model—not to copy anything but to riff off it, to collaborate and keep moving,” reflects Wisner.
It was an artist residency at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass that served as the perfect landing place for Wisner to explore his own style while being exposed to new culture and new techniques. He allowed his process to take more time, rather than money. He found satisfaction in discovering a deposit of clay in the ditch along Owl Creek Road, cleaning it, shaping it with a coiling technique learned from Quezada, pressing it with patterns of sacred geometry, and firing it into a fine art piece.
Wisner allowed his spirit to draw him towards small moments on hikes—stopping to study the patterns of a pinecone, weavings, seed pods or a wandering river—and taking that curiosity back to his studio in Woody Creek to recreate three dimensional patterns in clay with tools he would make himself. “It’s not for a random reason. Those patterns make sense structurally, and on a spiritual level as well. They are woven into us,” reflects Wisner. “People respond to this work, as it is something inside all of us.”
Of these patterns in sacred geometry, Wisner, an English, Spanish, and Portuguese speaker, thinks of it as a language. “I am learning a language and then figuring out how to use it. To translate into clay the way nature has found to lay down shingles—one on top of another—and once I’ve decoded the intelligence of it, it’s like a jazz musician riffing.”
Michael Wisner: Form & Texture is on view December 4-31, 2020 ‘under the clocktower’ in historic downtown Basalt and virtually at korologosgallery.com. For questions, hours or private viewing times, please call (970) 927-9668, email art@korologosgallery.com, or visit korologosgallery.com.
