Artist: Jeff Campana
Jeff Campana, MONTANA
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I draw lines by dissecting and immediately reassembling each pot. The result is a surface decoration with structural implications. Lines on the exterior coincide with lines found inside, as each line is in fact a seam, a scar where it was once severed. Though these seams imply fragility, pooling glazes seal and strengthen the ware. The fault lines that decorate the surface threaten to, but do not actually undermine the vessel’s ability to contain, display or deliver.
This method of making is sustained by my desire to develop a virtuosic touch in clay. When pieces are dissected for decoration, cross-sections are examined, critiqued, noted, and refined. I literally know my pots inside and out. It is my preference for conspicuous labor and skill that drives me to these intensive and challenging, and often risky processes.
Certain line patterns lend themselves to certain forms. I try to listen to the material when determining this. Structural failures in the drying and firing tell me to find new solutions. Working in an almost scientific way, new pots are made in a search for truth, accuracy in expressing my aesthetic ideals, which cannot be known until they are found. A work is successful when it makes me smile just to look at it. This is the tuning fork for my aesthetic calibrations.
EDUCATION
2008
Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in Studio Ceramics, Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
2004
Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Ceramics, cum laude
University of Wisconsin - Whitewater, Whitewater, WI
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2008-present
Lecturer: Intro Ceramics(331) x2, Glaze and Clay Calculation(531)
HITE Art Institute, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
Visiting Artist Lecture, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
2007-2008
Associate Instructor: Beginning Ceramics (S260), Henry Radford Hope SoFA, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Technical Consultant: IU Art Metals Department, Bloomington
2006-2007
Associate Instructor: Beginning Ceramics (S260), Henry Radford Hope SoFA, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
President: IU Fine Art Ceramics Guild, Henry Radford Hope SoFA, Indiana Univesity, Bloomington, IN
2006
Graduate Assistant, Summer Sessions 1 and 2, Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced Ceramics (S260, S361, S461) Henry Radford Hope SoFA, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
2005-2006
Graduate Assistant: Studio Technician for Graduate, Faculty, and Classroom Studios, Henry Radford Hope SoFA, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
AWARDS
2009
2nd Place, Starbrick Clay National, Nelsonville, OH, Matt Long
2008
Honorable Mention, Barrett Clay Works National Cup Show
2007-2008
Associate Instructor Assistantship, Indiana University
2006-2007
Associate Instructor Assistantship, Indiana University
2005-2006
Graduate Assistantship, Indiana University
2004
Best Thrown and Altered, Strictly Functional Pottery National,
Juror: Susan Peterson, Lancaster, PA
Undergraduate Research Grant,
National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR)
2003
Juror’s Choice, UW Whitewater Student Juried Show
Undergraduate Research Grant,
National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR)
2000, 2001, 2002
Excellence in Ceramics Scholarship, UW – Whitewater
1998
Best of Show, 1st Annual NCECA National K-12 Exhibition, Juror Don Reitz, Dallas, TX
Best of Ceramics, UW-Oshkosh High School Art Day Show, Oshkosh, WI
EXHIBITIONS
2009
National Juried Cup Exhibition, Lux Art Center, Lincoln, NE
Starbrick Clay National Cup Show, Starbrick Clay, Nelsonville, OH
Best of Louisville Clay Exhibition, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft
January Invitational @ Terra Incognito Gallery, Oak Park, IL
2008
Gulf Coast Juried National Cup Show, Panama City, FL
One of a Kind, Gallery on Pearl, New Albany, IN
Multiple Personalities, Prima Gallery, Bloomington, IN
National Cup Show, Barrett Clay Works, Poughkeepsie, NY
Reassembled: M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition, SoFA Gallery, Bloomington, IN
16th Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National, Lancaster, PA
National Society of Arts and Letters Visual Art Competition, Bloomington, IN
North American Ceramic Cup Show, Siena Heights University, Adrian, MI
The Goods: Benefit Auction, McCalla School Studios, Bloomington, IN
IU Ceramics Group Exhibition, SoFA Gallery, Bloomington, IN
2007
Emerging Excellence: 13 Regional University Programs, Mellwood Art Center, Louisville, KY
Upward and Onward, Walrdron Center for the Arts, Bloomington, IN
IU Ceramics Group Exhibition, SoFA Gallery, Bloomington, IN
2006
Emerging Talent, Prima Gallery, Bloomington IN
Ceramics Exchange, Texas Tech University, Lubbock TX
IU Ceramics Group Exhibition, SoFA Gallery, Bloomington, IN
2005
Verona Area High School Alumni Show, Verona, WI
2004
Recording Touch: BFA Thesis Exhibition, Whitewater, WI
NCUR National Show, Salt Lake City, UT
Strictly Functional Pottery National, Lancaster, PA
2003
Scholarship Recipient Show, Crossman Gallery, Whitewater, WI
UW Whitewater Juried Student Show, Whitewater, WI
NCUR National Show, Whitewater, WI
Strictly Functional Pottery National, Lancaster, PA
2002
Scholarship Recipient Show, Crossman Gallery, Whitewater, WI
UW Whitewater Juried Student Show, Whitewater, WI
1998
NCECA National K-12 Exhibition, Dallas, TX
UW Oshkosh High School Art Day Show, Oshkosh, WI
PUBLICATIONS
NICHE Magazine, Spring 2009, “Profile: Jeff Campana” p.34
GALLERY AFFILIATIONS
Terra Incognito Studios, La Grange, IL
Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville, KY