"Art of the Teapot" Featured by
Ceramics Professor at Gumps

SSU Associate Professor Gregory Roberts has an exhibit of ceramic teapots at Gump's in San Francisco called "Treasured Vessels: The Art of The Teapot" through March 28.

Treasured Vessels is a group exhibition at Gump's of beautiful forms ranging from the elegant to the playful, the practical to the decorative, in various media, interpreted by nationally recognized artists, artisans and designers.

The pieces Roberts present in this exhibition were created using a material called honeycomb ceramics. More than twenty-five years ago Corning, Inc.developed this advanced ceramic substrate to be used in almost every catalytic converter found in the U.S. today. Roberts says this product, developed in part by Alfred University for Corning, Inc., is designed to filter carbon monoxide and a variety of particles from the air in cars and smokestacks. It is also used in the biological sciences where catalytic conversion is required.

Roberts receives the material in block form. The pieces are then shaped using stone carving tools and techniques. Each piece plays off the anatomy of the teapot as symbolic reference points for the body and its possible proclivities. His philosophical approach of contrasting nature and technology is a visible steppingstone in this collection.

ABOVE is "An Abhorrent, Aberrant Growth" (2008) comprised of honeycomb ceramic, leather dye, sterling silver and epoxy