Kathy Triplett

(http://www.kathytriplett.com/about/ 5-2-08)lives in Weaverville, North CarolinaEducation Universidad de las Americas; Cholula, Puebla, Mexico Agnes Scott College; Decatur, Georgia; B.A. La Meridiana, Certaldo, Italy Commissions and Collections Lowe’s Corporate Headquarters, "Doors, Nails and Pennies", 2004 Charlotte Area Transit System, Matthews, NC; work in progress, installation in 2004 Clemson University, Hardin Hall, Clemson, SC, 84 tiles, 60' wall piece, installation, 2004 YWCA. Asheville, NC; 2003 Specialty Health Center at Summa Health Systems; Akron, OH; 2003 Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C., Alexandria, VA; 2002 PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Atlanta, GA; 2002 First Charter Center, Charlotte, NC; 2001 Zambra Restaurant and Hector Diaz, Asheville, NC; 2001 University of Virginia’s College at Wise, Wise, VA; 2001 Select Exhibitions Featured artist for December, Blue Spiral 1, Asheville, NC; 2003 “Wall to Wall”, Lee Hansley Gallery, Raleigh, NC, 2003 “Wall Works”; Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD, 2003 “SOFA Chicago 2002”, Gallery 500 “SOFA NY 2002”, Gallery 500 “Sculpture Invitational “, Armory Art Center, W. Palm Beach, FL; 2002 “SOFA Chicago 2001”, Blue Spiral 1 “Ceramics by Southeastern Artists”; Hodges-Taylor Gallery, Charlotte, NC; 2001 One Person Exhibition; University of South Carolina, Sumter, SC; 2001 “Living With Form-The Horn Collection of Contemporary Crafts”: Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR; 2000 A native of Orangeburg, SC, Kathy Triplett attended the Universidad de las Americas in Puebla, Mexico and received her B. A. from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA. Additionally, she honed her artistic skills in courses at La Meridiana, Italy; Arrowmont School, Tennessee; Castle Clay, Colorado; and the architecture department at Georgia Tech.While in Mexico, Triplett developed an interest in the geometric elements of that region’s Olmec and Aztec architecture, which led to an interest in Art Deco architecture and design. Travels to Barcelona, Spain and an interest in the work of Gaudi contributed to a tendency towards more organic forms in her work. A recent trip to Mali, in West Africa, brought the influences of the colors of mudcloth and the shapes of the mud mosques and houses, to her work. A study of terra-sigillata in Italy encouraged more natural and warmer surfaces to the wall tiles she creates now.But what explains the sea creature and insect-like forms in the work? Time spent every year exploring the shores of Edisto Island, SC, where horseshoe crabs and sharks’ teeth are found in abundance, contributes to the shapes and to the small detailed natural object additions on the teapots and the wall pieces.Windows and openings from one layer into another are abiding elements in the work, metaphors for the layers of the self, or for the process of uncovering another world that lies beyond this one. An interest in texture and contrast leads Triplett to lengthy glaze testing in order to find new and intriguing surfaces. Though she began her career as a wheelthrower, now handbuilding with slabs and coils is the method used to manipulate the clay. She is the author of Handbuilt Ceramics and Handbuilt Tableware and has exhibited at SOFA New York and Chicago, New Art Forms, Chicago; First International Tokyo Crafts Expo, Tokyo, Japan; The Tea Party, American Craft Museum, New York, NY; Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR, and is included in collections from Bolivia to Japan. She is a member of Piedmont Craftsmen, Inc., and the Southern Highland Guild and currently serves on the board of Handmade in America, Asheville, NC.She lives in Weaverville, NC, with her husband and two dogs, in a solar house filled with handmade tiles and ceramic wall sconces, and works in a handbuilt studio nearby.Tiles pave path for flights of fancyArtist turns clay into delightfully complex statements on natureBy Dorothy ShinnAkron Beacon Journal art and architecture criticKatherine Triplett’s clay tiles make you think of sandy beaches, cool dark forests, caves, deep pools, sparkling streams, pebbles on the shore, fertile fields, autumn harvests, the wild and untamed things that move past our windows in the night. Her hand-built, slab–made squares, 10 by 10 by 2 inches, hold remnants of things, echoes of life at its most insistent and evocative: bird’s eggs, the imprint of a cockle shell, the scrape of a bear claw, animal bones, an arrowhead, a picture of hands touching. That’s probably why her work A Small Smooth Stone was among the first to be chosen to decorate the lobby of Summa’s new Specialty Health Center, 95 Arch StThe new health center is dedicated to healing environments, and Triplett’s work goes a long way toward taking a person’s mind off worries and putting it in a more reflective and receptive state. Her tiles, all 24 of them, are hung to the right of the health center reception desk. You can get close to them, examine them, even touch them. One of them even has a small door you can lift to see what’s inside. Her tiles are the colors of earth, air and water. They contain images, surprises and messages such as “breathe,” “strength” and ‘‘p e a c e.’’ Her work was brought to the attention of the Summa Board by Harris–Stanton Gallery. Meg Harris discovered Triplett ’ s work while visiting Charlotte, N.C. ‘‘As soon as I saw her work, I thought that would be perfect for the new center lobby,’’ Harris said. The gallery sent slides of Triplett’s tiles to the board, which immediately wanted her work. Triplett then asked for information about the Akron area, and the gallery sent her plenty, in particular about the Cuyahoga River and the Signal Tree (ironically, just before the limb fell off), which Triplett incorporated into her tiles. ‘‘Her works try to bring in aspects of our environment. She incorporated water imagery into the ones at Summa because of the Cuyahoga River,’’ Harris said. Harris - Stanton Gallery, 2301 W. Market St., Akron, has a small exhibit of Triplett ’ s work on view through Aug. 19.There’s a set of six called Windows, a set of three-labeled Eyes and a set of nine tiles titled How Can We Speak with these Small Mouths? Again, we see found objects: seeds, shells, rocks, bear claw marks, and, with a wicked twist of humor, computer chips. The tiles are substantial, layered and complex. Just one tile could easily stand up to a small sculpture or painting of similar complexity. But Triplett likes to group them so they converse, exchange stories, compare notes and reveal themselves to each other and to us. A native of Orangeburg, S.C., Triplett honed her skills in Pueblo, Mexico; Barcelona, Spain; and Mali, West Africa, as well as studying at a number of schools. She is the author, through Lark Publishing , of Handbuilt Ceramics, Handbuilt Tableware and 500 Teapots. She lives in Weaverville, N.C., with her husband and two dogs, in a solar house filled with her work. She works in a handbuilt studio nearby where she creates her ceramics using the slab and coil method. Each summer is spent exploring Edisto Beach ( Edisto Island , S.C.), collecting horseshoe crabs and sharks’ teeth, which are brought home to contribute to the shapes and details of her teapots and wall pieces. She uses the windows and openings in her work as metaphors for the layers of personality, history, time –worlds upon worlds, lives beyond lives, one sense leading to another – that we all accumulate. Her work leads to long, intense looking, introspection, flights of fancy and the delicious anticipation of ever more to discover.