AUGUST 2022
NORTH GALLERY
FACE IT! - Faces of Fear, Anger, Reverie, Defiance, Delusion and more | Ronald Viol
Face IT! is an exhibition, primarily, of ceramic vessels and sculptures that explore how the human face expresses ideas, emotions, feelings, and moods. The sculptures range in size from several inches to over two feet. The works are made of stoneware clay and they are stained, underglazed, painted, weathered, and glaze fired to cone 5.
Artist Statement
Throughout history the human face has been a major art genre. Artists depict the human face because of its formalistic beauty and Its ability to express a wide range of ideas, emotions, feelings and moods. In portraying the human face artists have used every type of media, style and technique. I use clay to portray the human face because of its unbelievable plasticity, chromatic/textural density and its inherent variability. My sculptures are stoneware, painted, stained, weathered, underglazed, glazed and fired to cone 5. In my ceramic sculpture I address how the face makes meaning out of some of the issues that define the modern world. These issues are universal and in some instances they are of particular importance to Alaskans. How do isolation, alienation, division, uncertainty and living under constant surveillance affect us? What effect do social, political, economic and psychological pressures have upon us? What do we look like when we are in pain, afraid, angry, silly, envious, elated, happy and delusional? My sculptures address these ideas in unique ways. The source of my information is looking at faces in the world. The media, another source, presents us with countless images of the human face in every possible configuration. I like to turn off the sound on the news, movies and television programs to watch the expressions of the actors and personalities’ faces. I often zoom in on the transitory video image with my iPhone to capture a still image for additional study.
Some books that have influenced me:
How Emotions are Made, Lisa Feldman Barrett
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animal, Charles Darwin
Anatomy of Facial Expressions, Uldis Zarins
Facial Expressions: A Visual Reference for Artists, Mark Simon
