POMONA, CA.-AMOCA will look at the visual communication of approximately fifteen women sculptors and how their work addresses contemporary issues and questions. Form and Imagination: Women Ceramic Sculptors will be AMOCA’s first entirely figurative sculptural exhibition. Many legendary male ceramic artists have been featured at AMOCA. Dominating mid to late 20th century American ceramics, men’s preference for large-scale, slash-and-rip, and rough unrefined surfaces have attracted attention. It is time to “balance the scales.” Form and Imagination: Women Ceramic Sculptors, Sept 8 (opening), – Nov 24, 2007.

Historically, women have played an important role in ceramics. During the Victorian Era, few avocations were permitted to women born of the upper class. The study of drawing and painting was an exception; and as an extension of these pursuits, china painting, too, became an acceptable women’s activity. Following the artistic lead of England, women such as Mary Louise McLaughlin and Maria Longworth Nichols opened potteries, marking the beginning of the mid-century art pottery movement in America. Women became more and more involved in various types of ceramic decorating, but thought of as women’s work, ceramic art was not taken very seriously.

Form and Imagination: Women Ceramic Sculptors asks a question, “Do women bring a unique perspective to figurative sculpture?” Whether genetically predisposed or socially conditioned, girls are motivated by imaginative drama - playing house, dressing up, caring for dolls, or pretending to be princesses. In scouting potential candidates for AMOCA’s figurative exhibition, many works were discovered that physically illustrate qualities that relate to “girl activities.” – fine detail, elaborate costuming, role playing, mask making, doll-like forms and more.

Today, despite gender-blind conditioning and a more level playing field, there are very real distinctions between men and women that cannot be overlooked. For example, the thought processes that drive women are often described as excessively introspective. Women sculptors are by nature predisposed to be “thinking” artists, stirred by vivid dreams, spiritual/religious connections, intense emotions, real-life experiences, memories, or what is often referred to as woman’s intuition. In day-to-day communication, women seem inclined to elaborate narrative - embellished, embroidered, saturated with nuances, and played out with expansive telling, dissection, and analysis. Sculpture gives women’s stories another kind of voice. These are gross generalizations, to be sure – and most of us have been indoctrinated by now to recoil from such labeling of gender-related behavior. However, this exhibition will surely inspire discussion on the differences between gender subject matter and the methods used by each to communicate through three-dimensional art.