Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Chris Gryder

Chris Gryder began his exploration of art by studying architecture.A sincere and dedicated commitment to the subject led to his acquaintance with artists, methods, and concepts that later became the inspiration for his work in sculpture and clay.Gryder enrolled in Tulane University’s five-year architecture program  at the Architecture School at Tulane, then did graduate work at Rhode Island School of Design.The most striking aspect of his art making, blossoming during his graduate years, is the atypical process he uses to create vessels.“Earth forming,” Gryder’s own signature technique, involves carving intricate one-off molds out of an earthen mix of sand and clay. These fragile earthen “form works” last only long enough to cast his clay vessels and tiles.

Over a period of a week, the sand mold dries and begins to dissolve, allowing the clay piece to be excavated and eventually fired.

The technique is uniquely adapted to forming rich bas-relief surfaces, a sort of “dimensional drawing” technique that combines attributes of both image making and sculpture.

The surface is rough, like sand, with peculiar gatherings of hardened sediment tucked into the tight spaces between forms.

“I create sculptural ceramic objects that engage with a deep sense of time and history; a geological time and the time of civilizations,” Gryder shares.

“There is a visceral joy, a complete indulgence in tactile geometric form that evokes a world where wonder still reigns. A place at the edge of the wild.”

More of Chris Gryder’s unique work can be found at https://www.chrisgryder.com/.