“Relics: Recent Work by Amy Lenharth” at the Lawrence Percolator

Family Portrait

This Saturday, December 19 from 5-8pm the Lawrence Percolator (913 Rhode Island – alley entrance) presents Relics: Recent Work by Amy Lenharth. It is (somewhat) rare to come across a Lawrence based artist we do not know or have never heard of – thanks Percolator, looking forward to this show. The exhibit continues Saturdays and Sundays noon-6pm though Sunday, January 24.

Bone and Breast Cup

Artist Bio:
“I began working in clay 12 years ago. My work from the beginning was heavily influenced by nature. I had received a degree in horticulture the first time I attended college and have worked as a landscape designer and floral designer.

“I started as a functional potter, participating in art shows and exhibits. My work has been published in several books and national magazines. In 2004, I decided to pursue my art more seriously and entered the ceramic program at the Kansas City Art Institute. During my time there I switched from functional pottery to sculpture, still using nature as my influence. I graduated in May of 2007 with a double major in ceramics and art history, summa cum laude.

“I am now pursuing my MFA in ceramics at the University of Kansas. Teaching, along with a strong studio practice, is my goal.”

Thesis Work

Artist Statement:
“Themes of life and death permeate my work as they have my life in recent years. Death has caused me to reflect on the multi-faceted aspects of close relationships, both the positive and negative memories. The objects I create become containers for these memories. I take many of the natural objects that I find and make molds of them so that I can cast them in clay or metal. The process of casting allows me to make ‘ghosts’ of the original object which I can then alter and transform to create a new object. I combine the cast pieces with found objects that have an inherent history of their own. The assemblages play on the symbolism behind objects and their meaning in the myths of human culture as a way to explain the cycles of life and death. I am especially attracted to the contrast between nature made and human made objects. Many of my recent pieces juxtapose these symbols and even merge them, erasing the boundaries between these two states and raising questions for the viewer.”

Shaman’s Medicine Cabinet

posted by: Tricia Rock