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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marsha Rinetti
BRIO Art Gallery
Phone: (815) 776-1010
E-mail: marsha@briogalena.com
Ancient Methods Spawn Contemporary Art
Galena, IL- June 5, 2008- The current featured exhibit at BRIO Art Gallery features two artists who create contemporary paintings and ceramics using ancient techniques and methods.
Karen Kurka Jensen, of Cedar Rapids, is an award-winning, highly regarded regional and national sumi-e artist. Sumi-e, which means ‘black ink painting’, and calligraphy originated in China thousands of years ago.
Grounded by traditional methods and materials (she studied classical sumi-e for over ten years), Jensen’s award-winning work is emerging as a fresh expression of the sumi-e art form.
Sumi-e styles range from representational to abstract and from purely Asian to a combination of Western and Eastern, but all sumi-e artists use the same tools and similar techniques. The tools, the ‘Four Treasures’, are brush, ink, inkstone and rice paper.
Deceptively simple in appearance, sumi-e is a delicate skill. The sumi-e artist’s simple, harmonious compositions celebrate the simple things in life as a representation of continuing life.
Dean Dunkel, also of Cedar Rapids, creates contemporary ceramics using ages-old techniques of wood-firing and pit-firing.
Wood-firing dates back to the earliest civilizations. Most modern ceramicists use electric or gas kilns, but Dunkel enjoys the excitement and hard work of firings that take up to five days using these ancient and sometimes unpredictable techniques.
“So many variables are involved—the kind of wood, the movement of the ash and flame over the clay—no two pots are ever the same,” Dunkel says. The finished work is also determined by the clay used, placement in the kiln, and glazes.
The explosive heat of the kiln, 2000-plus degrees Fahrenheit, melts the ash creating a natural glaze and coloration on the clay. Essentially, Dunkel manipulates the variables to “paint” with fire. A firing takes several days, working around the clock, to load the kiln, feed and stoke the fire and finally cool the pots. After all of this, some pots are damaged or destroyed during the firing. This intense process creates a strong bond between the artist and the surviving pots.
Dunkel also fires vessels using the pit-fired technique, the oldest known method of firing clay. The pots are placed in a pit in the ground along with flammable materials like as wood chips or shavings, leaves, and sawdust. The pit is ignited and tended until most of the inner fuel has been consumed. The final pit temperature is about 2000 °F. Cooled pots are removed and cleaned, exposing dramatic patterns and colors left by the ash and salt deposits. Pots may then be waxed and buffed to create a smooth glossy finish.
Dunkel is drawn to art that evokes emotion and he strives for emotion in his own works by adding a little of himself in each piece.
Jensen’s and Dunkel’s works will be featured at BRIO Art Gallery, 116 South Main Street through June 22. For more information, call Marsha at 776-1010.
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815.776.1010 
