Amy Evans McClure

Vajra, "thunderbolt, diamond..."

...horse, dog, cat sheep, rabbit,
bird, pig, cow, rooster, pheasant,
quail, deer, mouse, wasp, bee, spider,
lion, Galapagos tortoise, snake, loud zoo birds,
monkey, ape, shaking hands with a chimpanzee —
pre-school age animals…
farm girl with a granma living 2 blocks from the city zoo...
memories flood through clay under my hands

Photo of my father holding me up on my mother's tall horse at age 6 months; memory of Cinnamon, a rich red-brown and white pinto, my pony with a head too big for his body, with a striped mane that sometimes stood straight up.

Three years old, feeding my first carrot to Cinnamon by myself, hand stretched back, flattened out of fear that a fingertip might disappear behind huge equine teeth. Red pony cart with big wheels like bicycle wheels, watching dad train a new pony to the cart after watching Cinnamon die age thirty-five plus. Too big to bury, Mr Frock came in his smelly truck to take him away for "glue and candles" — Mr Frock's head surrounded by the flies that followed his truck everywhere. Light a candle, light a horse spirit — I believed then and maybe still do a little bit.

Much later, art school on the other coast, discovering and falling in love with abstract painter-sculptors a la Joan B., Nathan O., Manuel N., etc…. Later, much later: finding it, in a new studio, in dialogue with clay, a new form emerging, figure of horse, head of horse; clarity, memory, thunderbolt, sword of consciousness striking down the guard at the gate with the flaming sword (me). Then I hop, jump, walk, float, ride, fly, pinch clay into another realm — the boundaries are lies; the form is the whole of it; eyes, ears, nose, touch, body, mind; form is not eye candy nor clever trick of image for the mind. form is it. form is empty. it is empty. empty is it. empty is where it all comes from, where formless form moves and breathes.

Vajra: one translation says "thunderbolt" or "diamond" — clarity of a diamond in the flash of a thunderbolt....


Click on a thumbnail to view a larger picture of these "Vajra" sculptures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

E D U C A T I O N

             San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, graduate work in sculpture, 1987
             California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA, BFA, 1986
             Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, 1982–84
             Penland Mountain School of Crafts, Penland, NC, 1981


S O L O   E X H I B I T I O N S

             2005      22 Clay Canvases, An installation at The Magic Theatre, San Francisco, CA
             2003      Amy Evans McClure & Ancient Art, John Ristow Gallery, Kentfield, CA
             2002      Seven Sculptures in Situ, San Francisco Zen Center, San Francisco, CA
             2000      Ten Sculptures, An installation at Marin Technology Center, San Rafael, CA
             1999      Bad Company, Embarcadero Center SkyDeck Gallery, San Francisco, CA (with photographs by Larry Keenan & Dale Smith)
             1998      A Forest of Figures, Kennedy Art Center, Holy Names College, Oakland, CA (with sculptures by Carol Setterlund)
             1996      Turning to Flesh, Joan Roebuck Gallery, Lafayette, CA
             1995      Field of Forms, Joan Roebuck Gallery, Lafayette, CA
                            The Figure, Ohlone College Gallery, Fremont, CA
             1993      Amy Evans, Sculpture, Berkeley Store Gallery, Berkeley, CA
                            Sculptural Environment, An installation of 10 sculptures, Shattuck Hotel, Berkeley, CA


E X H I B I T I O N S

             2007      Creatures of Magic & Myth, Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Sonoma, CA
             2006      CCA Ceramics 1950–2005, Oliver Art Center, California College of the Arts, Oakland, CA
             2005      Narratives in Clay, V. Breier Gallery, San Francisco, CA
                            POETRY and its ARTS, The California Historical Society, San Francisco, CA
                            30 Ceramic Sculptors, California Conference on the Advancement of Ceramic Arts, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, CA
                            Opposition, Joyce Gordon Gallery, Oakland, CA
             2004      The Figure In Art, CFA Gallery, San Anselmo, CA
                            30 Ceramic Sculptors, California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Art, John Natosulas Gallery, Davis, CA
                            Decorator Showcase, a benefit for SFU High School, K Kimpton Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA
             2002      Being There: 45 Oakland Artists, The Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
                            Being There: Selected Artists, Oakland International Airport, Oakland, CA
             2002      Installation for Collectors, The Oakland Museum of California Collectors Gallery, Oakland, CA
                            A Figurative Show, Virginia Breier Gallery, San Francisco, CA
             2000      From the Fire: Figures in Ceramic, Bedford Gallery, Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, CA
                            Ceramics: A Survey, A New Leaf Gallery, Berkeley, CA
                            Alumni Exhibition Series #4: 101 North, Marin Technology Center, San Rafael, CA
             1999      CCAC Alumni Exhibition Series # 3: Sculpture, Oakland City Hall, Oakland, CA
             1997      Milestones, Wiegand Gallery, College of Notre Dame, Belmont, CA
                            Imag-IN Clay, Wax, Plaster, Concrete, Joan Roebuck Gallery, Lafayette, CA
             1996      San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Rental Gallery’s 3rd Annual Artists’ Sale, San Francisco, CA
             1995      California Artists Juried Exhibition, Women Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
                            Ways with Watercolors, Joan Roebuck Gallery, Lafayette, CA
             1994      In the Company of Light, collaborative show of painters and poets, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA
             1994      The Alphabet Show, Okeanos Press, Berkeley, CA
                            Thirty Ceramic Sculptors, California Conference on the Advancement of Ceramic Art, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, CA
             1993      Youth to Maturity, Giorgi Gallery, Oakland, CA
                            Thirty Ceramic Sculptors, California Conference on the Advancement of Ceramic Art, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, CA.
             1992      California Small Works, California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa, CA
                            Figurative Expressions, Claudia Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, CA
                            Thirty Ceramic Sculptors, California Conference on the Advancement of Ceramic Art, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, CA
             1991      Sculpture in the Garden, Claudia Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, CA
             1990      Auburn Arts 39, Auburn Arts Center, Auburn, CA
                            Small Sculpture Exhibition, Mendocino Art Center, Mendocino, CA
                            4th Annual Artists for Amnesty International, a benefit exhibition, Natsoulas-Novelozo Gallery, Davis, CA
             1986      BFA Exhibition, Eccles Ceramic Center, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA
                            Juried Exhibition, Isabelle Percy West Gallery, CCAC, Oakland, CA
                            Metamorphosis, CCAC Gallery, Oakland, CA
             1985      Winter Fire, Eccles Ceramic Center, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA
             1984      Drawing Exhibition, Isabelle Percy West Gallery, Oakland, CA
                            Clay AZ Art, University Art Gallery, Flagstaff, Arizona
                            Couch Off: Handmade Paper, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona
             1983      No Place Like Home, The Glass House, Flagstaff, Arizona
                            Drawing on Clay, University Art Gallery, Flagstaff, Arizona


C O L L A B O R A T I O N S

             1994      In the Company of Light, collaboration of painters and poets, benefit event for Visual AIDS of San Francisco, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA
             1983      Founded with 2 other artists, The Glass House, an alternative exhibition space in Flagstaff, Arizona


R E L A T E D   W O R K / H O N O R S / C O M M I S S I O N S

             2006      The Bancroft Library at the University of California Berkeley, Awarded commission to create the signature sculpture for the Tebtunis Papyri Center, the largest collection of papyrus in the western hemisphere, in the new Bancroft Library scheduled for completion in 2008.
             2004      Calif. Conference on the Advancement of Ceramic Art, slide show and talk, Davis, CA
             2002      Oakland Museum of California, gallery talk and public discussion, Oakland, CA
             2000      Bedford Gallery, Center for the Arts, slide lecture, Walnut Creek, CA
             1997      Dominican College, lecture with slide presentation, San Rafael, CA
             1995      Oakland Museum Members Lecture, presented at my sculpture exhibition, Lafayette, CA
             1994      California College of Arts and Crafts, slide lecture, Oakland, CA
             1993      Calif. Conference on the Advancement of Ceramic Art, slide presentation, Davis, CA


P U B L I C A T I O N S

             "Narratives in Clay," Ceramics Monthly, October 2005
             "Amy Evans McClure," 30 Ceramic Sculptors, John Natsoulas Press, 2005, p.44
             "Amy Evans McClure at the San Francisco Zen Center" by Jack Foley, Lummox Journal, January 2003
             "Amy Evans McClure at the San Francisco Zen Center" by Jack Foley, The Alsop Review, November 2002
             "
Something of India: A Time Morph," Poems by Michael McClure with "Glimmers of India, Clay Canvases" by Amy Evans McClure, Big Bridge: A Webzine of Poetry and Everything Else, Vol. 2, No. 4
             "Some Bay Area Artists," Foley’s Books: California Rebels, Beats & Radicals, by Jack Foley, Pantograph Press, 2000, pp.133–134
             "Amy Evans McClure: Art," Big Bridge: A Webzine of Poetry and Everything Else, Vol. 1, No. 4,
             "Amy's Chalices," by M.C. Richards, broadside published by Tangram Press, San Francisco, 1998
             "A Silent Conversation," by Jack Foley, ARTSbeat: East Bay Express, April 30, 1993