Guardians of the Land, a solo exhibition of ceramic sculptures by Deb Lecce. This is Ms. Lecce’s first solo exhibition in the Riverside Galleries at Garrison Art Center. The exhibition has been on view in the Balter Gallery since May 22 – June 20, 2021.
Deb Lecce is well known to the Hudson Valley and Garrison Art Center as a gifted ceramics artist and instructor, inspiring students and collectors with her skills and finely crafted ceramic works. Guardians of the Land is an exclusive collection of Lecce’s elegant ceramic animals that she hand builds with stoneware clay and fires in a variety of kilns, each producing a unique surface.
Lecce begins each sculpture with the belly of the animal adding coil upon coil of clay while paddling and stretching the clay to find the gesture and spirit of each individual work. Lecce talks about a contemplative mindset during the process of creating and the excitement and challenge that accompanies the transformation of the clay into “sentient” beings. One is struck by the varied earthen colors and patinas of each sculpture. Surfaces resemble stone with sumptuous gradations of rust to burnt umber or semi-gloss slate tones that are warm and inviting. Lecce’s favorite mode of firing is in the anagama wood firing kiln. The anagama kiln (a Japanese term meaning “cave kiln”) is thirty feet long, four feet high and four feet wide. The firing chamber has a firebox at one end and a flue at the other so that the heat and ash pass over the clay pieces before exiting through the flue creating patinas that Lecce refers to as “a kiss of fire and ash.” The firing takes place over seven days with a team of artists coming together and working towards a common goal: to facilitate and witness the magic that transforms their dried clay pieces into fine and durable ceramics. It is an annual event that Lecce looks forward to each year.
For more about Deb Lecce and her work please see the press release.
