Ani Kasten: Offering

AniKasten was one of two artists awarded a solo exhibition for The Clay Studio’s2011-2012 exhibition season, selected from a national call for entries. She received her BA in literature fromthe University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and shortly thereafter devoted herself tothe creation of her ceramic works, completing two apprenticeships, one with apotter in Nepal, and the other at Church Farm Pottery, with English PotterRupert Spira. Kasten creates bothvessels, the focus of this exhibition and sculptural works. 

Kasten’svessels, comparatively large in scale, are contemplative wonders.  Beautifully refined, simple lined wheelthrown and hand built forms are subtly surfaced with incised markings.Scratched and scraped into the surfaces of her pieces, sometimes randomly andsometimes patterned, the markings are given subtle emphasis through theapplication of slips and glaze that is rubbed into the surface and when wipedaway, remain in the recessed areas. In minimizing her palette to earthy gray, blacks, blues and browns incombination with a smoky white, Kasten creates a tight visual relationshipwithin all of her works. 

Kastenwrites, “My pieces are often truncated, off-center, weathered and perforated, combining natural movement and an apparent state of organic deterioration thatinvokes the cycle of life, death, decay. They investigate the nature of change, the compiling of memory, and a feeling of profound loss– the recognition oftemporal beauty bound inextricably with grief. The pieces are like remnants, alandscape of objects that remain after some kind of significant change, gravemarkers, or organic matter that has survived a great fire. As creativeexpressions of form, movement and texture, my work is infused with a modern, minimal aesthetic while at the same time reminding one of a natural or ancientobject exposed to the rigors of time. As does nature, my ceramics oftenincorporate repeated markings and patterns, and explore asymmetry whileretaining balance, lightness, and quietude of form.”