FEATURED
ARTWORK
“To find a form that accommodates the mess, that is the task of the artist now.” – Samuel Beckett
We are each a collection of experiences, memories, dreams, actions, sins, fears, interests and so forth. We move along, gathering more and more experiences in our perceived continuum of time. Ultimately they all devolve into hazy fragments. Our lived experiences become puzzles to decipher. How do we integrate all we are into a cohesive whole or soul so that we can be peaceful and holistic?
Clarity in Confusion is a body of work that seeks inspiration from the artist’s personal interior landscape. I create entropic sculptures that decay, are always flaking, cracking, and disintegrating. This is a reminder and reflection of the human condition and ultimately our death. Rather than struggle to assemble the shards of our experiences and history, the task is to accept the confusion and uncertainty. In that acceptance comes a sense of clarity.
In 2018, I decided to return to glass again in conjunction with ceramic and steel. Once more, I worked with Lorin Silverman; this time at Urban Glass in Brooklyn. In addition to blown glass, I was interested in using mirror strips similar in nature to the enamelware photographic setups. The glass was created first. I then constructed a steel structure to suspend the glass shapes, which are removable for the kiln firings. Clay was added and the sculpture was fired for bisque the color. Metal angles were then welded at various angles as a support for two sided mirror strips, which were glued in place.
This series is entitled “Tri-Harmonic” referring to the relationship between glass, ceramic and steel, materials that all use fire and heat as an essential means in their creation.
In the 5th grade at Our Lady Gate of Heaven, our teacher created a contest. Pointing to an image of a state on a map of the USA, each student, standing at the back of the classroom, would have to name the capital of that state.
I studied and studied and was reasonably certain I could win. The only problem, I could not discern the shapes of the state from the back. I asked the nun to keep moving forward until I could clearly see the shapes. Soon I was literally 6 feet away. I knew every capital but I do not recall if she awarded a prize. What I do know is that she called my parents and told them I needed glasses.
Soon I received a pair of new prescription glasses for near sightedness. Already branded a “teacher’s pet, I was now immediately also called “4-eyes.” Despite the negative social implications, what mattered now was that I could see clearly for the first time. Everything was sharp, ordered, and definitive. Eyesight gave me a clarity, even a harshness of vision: the line, the curve, the edge with “level” and “perpendicular” defining space and volume.
Now that my vision is diminishing with age, I remembered this event. I decided to re-create the experience of seeing out of focus. In 2010, utilizing a table top set up of old and new enamelware, I produced a series of richly colored “blurry” images that recalled my first visual experiences.
In 2016, I thought it would be interesting to take these photos, to replace the glowing amorphous shapes in ceramic and steel. I was not successful, hence the title, “Hubris.” Eyesight and clarity prevailed.
Working in the ceramic medium, I have always been interested in the synthesis of different materials. From 1989 through 2002, I used steel rod and wire combined with 04 terracotta in my sculptures. The “skeleton” of the steel provided a way to utilize clay in a more spatial and gravity-defying manner.
The medium of glass is attractive but I never had an occasion to explore it. In 2013, I met Lorin Silverman, an expert glassblower and artist. He worked then for Corning Museum as a technician helping artists to realize their vision in glass. We researched and developed a way to blow glass into a metal armature.
Glass is perhaps the most difficult medium I have utilized. Once the glass shapes were created, using CAD drawings I constructed a steel and wire structure, which was then covered with terra cotta and fired multiple times for color to Cone 04. The glass forms were then independently affixed to the sculptures.
The tension between the fractured ceramic with the reflective glass is fascinating, a feeling of beauty born out of decay.
The work of R&D Sculptures 2014: Ceramic, Steel and Glass was constructed, March 2013 – May 2014.
These new sculptures are derived from a series of sculptures starting in 1999. They are based on a digital exploration of Abstract Expressionist paintings. Adobe Photoshop was used to separate colored shapes within various paintings created by different artists. A DeKooning painting could be separated into 7 different colors or layers. These colors and their corresponding forms were then modified and manipulated in 3D Studio Max, a CAD software.
The resulting building blocks were then assembled into coherent 3D forms. These prints were used as rough templates to “re-materialize” the digital images into steel and ceramic sculptures. A sculpture now was comprised of the various “sampled” forms and colors from several historical artists.
Working in the ceramic medium, I was always interested in the synthesis of different materials. From 1989 through 2001 I used steel rod combined with 04 terra cotta in my sculpture. The “skeleton” of steel provided a way to utilize clay in a more spatial and gravity defying manner.
The medium of glass was always attractive. In early 2013, I met Lorin Silverman, an expert glassblower with a BFA from Alfred. He then worked for Corning Museum as a resident technician assisting artists to realize their vision.
We researched and developed a way to blow glass into a metal armature. In July 2013, Lorin provided the labor and expertise to make the glass shapes used in this new body of work. Glass is the most difficult medium that I have experienced.
Once the shapes were blown, using CAD drawings, I constructed a steel and wire structure, which was then covered with terra cotta and fired multiple times for color. The glass forms were then independently affixed to the fired sculpture.
The tension between the fractured ceramic with the reflective glass is fascinating, a feeling of beauty born out of decay.
FEATURED EXHIBITIONS
STRUCTURE/DISSONANCE
September 10 – December 31, 2022 | Solo Exhibition at Everson Museum of Art | Syracuse, NY
celebrates nearly five decades of work by New York-based artist Raymon Elozua, who first came to prominence in the 1970s with detailed trompe l’oeil ceramic sculptures of decaying industrial landscapes.
MELTING POINT
2021 | Group Exhibition at Ferrin Contemporary & Heller Gallery | North Adams, MA & New York, NY
Survey of a diverse group of artists whose use of the melting point is central to their practice.
CURRENT & RECENT
RAYMON ELOZUA: Structure/Dissonance
Everson Museum of Art | Syracuse, NY
September 10 – December 31, 2022
ABOUT
b. 1947 West Germany
lives and works in Mountaindale, NY
Raymon Elozua is a transdisciplinary visual artist working in the Catskills region of New York. His extensive studio practice consists of large-scale sculpture in ceramic, steel and glass, photography, visual research and archiving, web-based projects, and other forms of documentation. Elozua’s work often references the vessel, abstract expressionism, industrial decline and decay, and regionalism.
Elozua has been awarded three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a New York State Foundation for the Arts Grant, and a Virginia A. Groot Foundation Grant. His work has been exhibited at The Carnegie Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Mint Museum of Art and The Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Museum of Fine Arts (Houston), and Yale University Art Gallery, among others. He has taught at The California College of Arts & Crafts, Louisiana State University, New York University, Pratt School of Design, and The Rhode Island School of Design. Elozua’s solo exhibition Structure/Dissonance opens at The Everson Museum of Art in Fall 2022.
ON WORKING IN ABSTRACTION
Abstraction has no message.
Abstraction has no literal meaning.
Abstraction is a pure reflection of self.The computer was a significant tool in creating this body of work. The aesthetics behind the work originated from sampling different colors in a variety of Abstract Expressionist paintings. The colors were then exported into a software program and used as the basis for creating assorted 3D shapes. The forms were combined into virtual, albeit sterile, digital sculptures. These images were then “translated” into tactile textured sculptures fabricated out of steel, ceramic, and glass. The physical reality of the marriage of these materials and processes results in objects whose aesthetic beauty is born from decay, entropy, and regeneration. Abstraction has no message, no literal meaning, it is a pure reflection of self.
– Raymon Elozua, 2022
ON HIS WORK
Both my parents were immigrants. My father was an illegal Cuban immigrant who nonetheless fought in the US Army during WWII, serving for 25 years and retiring as a Master Sergeant. My mother was a French war bride who survived the German invasion and civilian conscription, which emotionally scarred her entire life.
I was raised in the presence of these two different cultures, which were overshadowed by the dominant culture of the USA. Growing up in this ‘melting pot’ of America imbued me with a fluid, restless identity.
To that point, I am a college drop-out. I have worked as a batting machine operator, hardware store clerk, library book stacker, babysitter, house painter, junkman, auto body painter, band roadie, macrobiotic baker, caterer, truck driver, theatrical carpenter, prop maker, construction contractor, landlord, potter, college art instructor, art consultant, property manager and local historian. I am a self-educated artist, not exactly a role model for college students; nonetheless I taught at the college level for many years.
Given my background, I see no reason in swearing a fealty to one medium, ceramic or otherwise. This work, like my personal history, combines three different mediums to create a cohesive aesthetic whole. I think this mirrors my own identity. The personal psychology of the work is echoed in the marriage of dissimilar materials whose only commonality is fire and heat. Embedded in this work is the resonance of my family.
Steel :: Strength :: Father
Ceramic :: Emotion :: Mother
Glass :: Hope :: Artist
– Raymon Elozua, 2022
Representing Elozua’s varied explorations into photography, websites, collections, and sculpture made of glass, steel, and ceramic, view the artist’s thirty+ catalogs
Structure/Dissonance celebrates nearly five decades of work by New York-based artist Raymon Elozua, who first came to prominence in the 1970s with detailed trompe l’oeil ceramic sculptures of decaying industrial landscapes. Elozua’s first major museum exhibition since his 2003 retrospective at the Mint Museum, Structure/Dissonance focuses on three conceptual bodies of work that explore the combined physical properties of three elemental materials: ceramic, glass, and steel. This exhibition contextualizes these vital sculptures within Elozua’s intellectual landscape through the inclusion of a series of collections and research projects that are inextricably linked to his artistic output. September 10—December 31, 2022 at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY – curated by Garth Johnson; catalog features essays by Johnson, Maria Porges, and Thyrza Nichols Goodeve, 2022.
RAYMON ELOZUA: Evolution of Steel and Ceramics
This catalog is a record of a portion of Raymon Elozua’s varied explorations into photography, websites, collections, and sculpture made of glass, steel, and ceramic. It documents Elozua’s relentless curiosity and enormous capacity for diverse inquiry, interpretation, and mastery.
RAYMON ELOZUA: R&D Sculptures 2014
In 2014, visual artist Raymon Elozua created a new body of mixed media sculpture, the R&D series, incorporating glass, ceramics, and steel. He received a Virginia A. Groot Foundation grant for this work. This catalog is a comprehensive documentation of this work.
RAYMON ELOZUA: Word Sculptures
Using digital technologies, Raymon Elozua extracts layers of colored shapes from abstract expressionist paintings. He then re-materializes the digital imagery into steel and ceramic sculptures. The work shown here was constructed during 2001 in New York City.
RAYMON ELOZUA, Hubris: Images Made Flesh
“Hubris” presents a juxtaposition of Elozua’s blurry photographic images with the precise, hard edges of his ceramic and steel sculptures. The photos recreate both a childhood nearsightedness and the deteriorating vision that comes with aging. “In 2016, I thought it would be interesting to take these photos and to replicate the glowing amorphous shapes in ceramic and steel. I was not successful, hence the title, ‘Hubris.’ Eyesight and clarity prevailed,” said Elozua of this body of work.
CONSTRUCTING ELOZUA: A Retrospective
This catalog was published on the occasion of the exhibition “Constructing Elozua: A Retrospective, 1973–2003” organized by the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, North Carolina, and presenting the work of sculptor Raymon Elozua.
Foreword by Mark Richard Leach
Essays by Garth Clark, Melissa G. Post, and Edward Leffingwell
DIGITAL PROJECTS
Raymon Elozua, Blur #2 (P-Canon 100m_0678), 2010, Archival ink on archival rag paper, 17 x 22″
NEWS
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY.July 20, 2019- January 5, 2020 AUGUST 8 | STUDIO & GALLERY FIELD TRIP Raymon Elozua Studio & Jack Shainman Gallery Mountain Dale & Kinderhook, NY Ferrin contemporary invites you to join us on Saturday, August 8, 2015 for… Artsy Magazine features Ferrin Contemporary a1315 MASS MoCA Way. Micheline Gingras & Raymon Elozua in “Made in Mountaindale” On Saturday, August 8th from noon to 4, Raymon Elozua and Micheline Gingras welcomes the public to the Grocery Story Gallery in Mountaindale,… SUNDAY JULY 19 | CLAY IS HOT! GOOD BETTER BEST Panel Discussion and Dinner in the Gallery 1315 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams JULY 25 &… In 2015, Elozua received a Virginia A. Groot Foundation grant for a new body of work. The R&D series of mixed media sculpture incorporates glass, ceramics, and steel. Glazed & Diffused will be on view at Ferrin Contemporary’s gallery space at 1315 MASS MoCA Way in North Adams from June 20 through August 16, 2015. This survey exhibition will…Raymon Elozua: STRUCTURE & DISSONANCE Exhibition Catalog
EARTH PIECE, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY
Raymon Elozua’s STRUCTURE/DISSONANCE Featured in Sculpture Magazine
SUMMER AT FERRIN CONTEMPORARY, JUNE EVENTS IN NORTH ADAMS
Year in Review 2015
Elozua Studio & Shainman Gallery Field Trip
Artsy Guide to Art in the Berkshires
Read more…Gingras & Elozua present Made in Mountaindale
2015 SUMMER EVENTS
Elozua Awarded Groot Grant
GLAZED & DIFFUSED
ADDITIONAL PRESS
“For more than 40 years, Raymon Elozua has maintained a career largely outside of the commercial art world, forging his own path in creative and enduring ways…”
Raymon Elozua: Fire and Steel
American Ceramics Vol.11 #3
by Peter Von Ziegesar
“If the conventional thrown pitcher or teapot represents, in the mind of the potter, an attempt to distill something essential, beautiful and permanent about the human spirit and cast it into a material that is among the most lasting known to man, then Raymon Elozua’s pieces of the last two years try to do the opposite…”
Constructing Elozua: A Retrospective, 1973–2003
Mint Museum of Craft + Design
This online career retrospective connects the threads of a 30-year body of work driven by Raymon Elozua’s fascination of materials, process, and his insatiable curiosity. It includes photography, ceramics vessels, sculptural landscapes, paintings, and computer-derived art.
Without Compromise: A Personal View of Raymon Elozua’s Art
by Garth Clark
“Elozua is one of those rare contemporary artists for whom art is not vocational choice, but is a trust and sacrament in which compromise and dishonesty are simply not options.”
Raymon Elozua: How to Make a Teapot
by Edward Leffingwell
Raymon Elozua came to the broad range of his work as an artist fired by a curiosity concerning process and driven by the avidity and range of his remarkable intelligence.
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