The 16th annual Visions in Clay exhibit held at the Horton Art Gallery at Delta College is currently running until Sept. 25.
The exhibit is displaying 44 pieces from 44 ceramic artists from all across the country.
Nancy M. Servis is serving as juror to select the awards given out to the artists.
Artist Melodie Sidhu is a Delta College alumni, and is displaying her piece called “It’s Pouring” in this year’s exhibit.
Sidhu describes how she draws influence from her cultural background, the pouring vessel being inspired by the brass teapots from the Mughal Empire in North India.
“Something that was new on this piece was incorporating my henna practice into it… I have a background in henna, so some of the work on there is inspired by those designs and similar motifs that I used in henna work,” said Sidhu.
Sidhu said her earliest artistic influences were different Indian textiles, clothing, rugs and the overall very vibrant, colorful culture.
“It’s not necessarily the emphasis for me to connect to my culture, but it’s just in me, it just comes out naturally,” said Sidhu.
Artist Sandy Frank won the award for Regional Artist-in Residence for her piece “Legacy,” from her body of work called “HandWork” that uses hands as the recurring motif. Frank will come to Delta to do a demonstration in late September as part of the award.
“All the hands are handing down a pearl to the very small hand at the end, and it’s about handing down wisdom through generations, it could be seen as handing down the treasures of the family, or the pearl of wisdom going down through the generations,” said Frank when describing “Legacy.”
Frank has been an anatomy professor at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for 18 years, and uses the intersection of art and science in her work.
“I really do like to use the human figure because everybody recognizes it, it has a vast amount of expression, and it’s something everybody can relate to,” said Frank.
Alyssa Erin Garcia, Delta student, illustrator and kids art teacher came to view the exhibit to get ideas for her art class from the pieces displayed.
“I really like [Legacy], I think the hands and the anatomy is really cool, they put a lot of detail into it,” said Garcia.
Both Sidhu and Frank gave their appreciation for the opportunity to show their work in the Visions in Clay exhibit and for the expertise of the Art Gallery Coordinator Jan Marlese.
Visions in Clay is open until Thursday, Sept. 25 for viewing.
