International Wood Firing Conference & Workshop

Broc Allen
6428 South Allen road
Foxboro, WI 54836
Phone: (218) 343-1296
Email: claymanallen@aol.com

STATEMENT
I have been working predominately with clay for a number of years. I find ceramics to be a rewarding challenge because I can encounter failure during any step in the process of making work. Failure can be experienced during the first stage of throwing the piece to the last stage of firing the piece. As an artist working in this medium you must always be observing your failures as well as your successes. My failures range from flopping a pot while throwing it, trimming though the bottom, cracking while drying, dropping, bad glazes, blowing them up during firing, firing too hot and too cold. I have ruined work in countless ways and I know that I will encounter many more. I enjoy talking and thinking about the ways I have had things go wrong because this is medium is so humbling. It is though these humbling experiences that true knowledge can be gained. I find it fascinating that I am dealing with many of the same struggles that have plagued all potters for thousands of years. I try to speak with my own voice while not denying those that have inspired me. I have been highly influenced by the work of contemporary ceramists such as Peter Voulkos and Don Reitz. I have also been influenced by their approach to the making of art. Something that Voulkos said that I have tried to take to heart is “there are no rules only concepts”.
I love to work with clay because everything that you do to it is somehow reflected in the end. Whether I squeeze it, punch it, or slash, some reference of that will be reflected. Some actions that are exerted on the piece are not highly visual in the end they may simply hide beneath the surface, but they are there. Where and how a piece is placed in the kiln will make a large impact on the piece. Such as if a work is placed on the corner of a shelf or near a burner it will catch more carbon during the firing. If a work is placed on its side it will have much different flashing than if it were fired standing tall. As a ceramist I try to be concise of the type of firing the piece will endure, be it wood or gas both while I am making the piece and when it is or is not being glazed. There are surfaces that I produce that work wonderfully with glaze and without, but must be fired in a wood fired kiln for a period of at least thirty plus hours in order to create a desirable effect. It makes a difference what pieces are placed next to each other since they will impact the way the fuel is dispersed throughout the kiln. If a small bowl is placed next to a tall vessel it the bowl may leave a shadow on the vessel. I love trying to conceive of the infinite variables in the production of ceramic art and then trying to control them. Even as I try to control results I must be and am very open to the spontaneity and chance that this art form provides myself as an artist.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2008 Grittner and Friends, NCECA, New Orleans, LA
2007 Not Yet Named, Guangzhou Art Academy, Guangzhou, China
2007 Members show Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN
2006 Hand Made Tile Ass. Invitational, North End Arts and Clay Center, Superior, WI
2006 Members show Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN
2005 Behold the Mug, Sivertson Gallery, Duluth and Grand Marais, MN
2005 It’s Only Clay, Bemidji Community Art Center, Bemidji, MN
2005 Fins and Feathers, Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN
2005 Form and Function, Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN
2005 Transition, North End Arts and Clay Center, Superior, WI
2005 Lake Superior College All Student Art Show, Duluth, MN
2005 Members show Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN
2005 UWS All Student Juried Show, Kruk Gallery, Superior, WI
2004 Sister City’s Ceramics Exhibition, Ami Machi, Japan
2004 UWS All Student Juried Show, Kruk Gallery, Superior, WI
2003-5 Regional Sculptors Series Duluth International Airport
2004 Members show Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN
2004 That Little Space Show Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN
2003 Down and Dirty A Ceramics Invitational, Sivertson Gallery, Duluth, MN

2003 A New Beginning, Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN 2003 That Little Space Show Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN

2003 UWS All Student Juried Show, Kruk Gallery, Superior, WI

2002 UWS All Student Juried Show, Kruk Gallery, Superior, WI
2001 UWS All Student Juried Show, Kruk Gallery, Superior, WI
2001 Not Found @ WALMART, solo exhibition, ASL Gallery, Superior, WI
2000 UWS All Student Juried Show, Kruk Gallery, Superior, WI
2000 Selected Works, solo exhibition, ASL Gallery, Superior, WI
1999 UWS All Student Juried Show, Kruk Gallery, Superior, WI

GALLERIES
2000-present Blue Lake Gallery, Duluth, MN
2001-present Lizzards Art Gallery, Duluth, MN
2004-present Superior Artists Gallery, Washburn, WI

HONORS & AWARDS
1996 Scholarship to attend Oestreich workshop from Duluth Art Institute
1999 Honorable Mention, All Student Juried Show, Superior, WI
2001 Honorable Mention, All Student Juried Show, Superior, WI
2001 Holden Art Scholarship, University Wisconsin Superior Foundation
2004 First Place, All Student Juried Show, Superior, WI

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
1996-present Duluth Art Institute
2005-present National Council for the Education of the Ceramic Arts
2005-present Metropolitan Interstate Committee