NCECA: wILD cLAY

wILD cLAY is an exhibition of artworks by Tim Roda, exploring clay and photography as artistic mediums connected by uncharacteristic utility. The works in this exhibition embrace the functional history of clay as a vessel, making photography and material a means of exploratory documentation. The vessels in wILD cLAY function as clay cameras, while also existing as fragile, earthen material and crudely created domestic ecosystems. The resulting pinhole cameras and large scale photographs present questions about freedom and responsibility, raised by curiosity and ingenuity, with regard to our constructed and natural environments. 

Tim Roda is a New York- based artist and art instructor at Molloy College who has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally. He is known for his black and white photographs that document the family. Roda holds a MFA (ceramics) from the University of Washington, Seattle and a BFA (ceramics) from The Pennsylvania State University. He has received several awards, most notably a Fulbright Award to Italy. Roda is the 2012 recipient of the Kennedy Family Fellowship at the University of South Florida, Tampa. He completed residencies at the Archie Bray Foundation, Marie Walsh Sharpe, and the Centro Cultural Andratx. His work is in included in the following collections: Everson Museum of Art; Bard College Museum, Hessel Foundation; The Rose Museum, Brandeis University; Seattle Art Museum and the Henry Art Museum; Museum of Fine Arts; Portland Art Museum; Elton John Collection; Museum of Contemporary Photography; Essl Museum; Gaia Collection; and the Centro Cultural Andratx. Reviews of Roda’s work have been included in the New Yorker Magazine, ARTFORUM, Modern Painters Magazine, Beautiful/Decay, Art in America, and Slate.

ABOUT THE CURATOR

Jason Hackett is a professional artist and currently the studio manager for the Department of Craft and Material Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.  Prior to obtaining his Master’s degree from VCU in 2005, Jason held studio management positions for both Jun Kaneko and Pewabic Pottery.

His artworks have been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the United States at Alexandria Museum of Art, San Angelo Museum of Fine Art, The Mobile Museum of Art, The Virginia Museum of Fine Art, The Taubman Museum of Art, Arrowmont School of Art and Craft, The Craft Alliance Center for Art and Design, and Peter’s Valley School of Craft.

Jason has been awarded a Dean’s Exploratory Grant from Virginia Commonwealth University around the development of research to include the 3-dimensional printing of clay.  He is also the recipient of a prestigious Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship for his collaged ceramic works relating to the field of Craft.