A piece from the exhibit “Sounding Retreat”
Linda Sormin will be the first visiting artist of the spring semester for the WSU Department of Fine Arts. During her Jan. 6-17 visit, she will work on a project – “Sounding Retreat” – with students and faculty in Fine Arts Gallery 2.
Sormin’s ceramic installations use a wide variety of materials and techniques accumulating in unruly improvised structures.
Constructed on wooden armatures, her projects use hand-formed ceramic elements alongside broken pots, kitsch ceramics and found elements that manifest a coexistence of languages, cultures and experiences that disrupt preconceptions of ceramics.
Sormin was born in Bangkok, Thailand, and grew up in Orillia, Ontario. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Venues have included Stride Gallery in Calgary, Flow Gallery in London, York Quay Gallery in Toronto, and YingKo Ceramics Museum in Taipei, Taiwan. In fall 2006, she joined the faculty of Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, R.I., as assistant professor of ceramics.
Sormin will present a lecture on her work at 5 p.m. Jan. 16 in the Fine Arts auditorium. The lecture will be followed by an opening reception for the exhibit in Gallery 2 from 6-7 p.m.
The visiting artist lectures and events are funded by the Florence and Edward Forst Endowed Visiting Artist Fund. All lectures and events are free to the public. Gallery 2 hours are 8 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, closed weekends and university holidays.
