Shadow May spent a year creating the 10-13 pieces that are part of his solo show at the AVA Gallery.If You GoWhat: “Ephemeral Forms: Works by Shadow May.”When: Through Nov. 25.Where: AVA Gallery, 30 Frazier Ave.Admission: Free.Gallery hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.Phone: 265-4282.
When Shadow May started creating the pottery pieces that make up his “Ephemeral Forms” exhibition, he had no idea what the pieces would look when finished. In fact, he wanted them to appear abstract to the point of being organic, as if they’d been formed at random in nature.
“I build them so you question whether a human made them or not,” he says.
Shadow May spent a year creating the 10-13 pieces that are part of his solo show at the AVA Gallery.About 18 months ago, May began building his own stainless-steel bases for the pieces, on display this month at the Association for Visual Arts Gallery. He likes the juxtaposed look of the metallic surface with his abstract, lightly glazed clay pieces, but he also likes that, by adding a small pin to the bases, he can then display the pottery almost anyway he chooses.
“With a clay base, you have to create a cradle and the piece has a top or a bottom or it will break. With the stainless and the pin, I can exalt my piece better,” he says. “It is a more interesting look. It becomes more like displaying an artifact than a piece of art.”