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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Clay pieces invite touch


Kevin Bouck works on a clay piece in his studio on the South Hill    June 12.  
 (Holly Pickett / The Spokesman-Review)

Like Michelangelo, who could see art locked in a block of marble, Kevin Bouck can see art in a lump of clay.

The 29-year-old ceramic artist works from his small turret studio in his South Hill apartment.

“I’ve been making art for 15 years,” he said, “but in 2004, I discovered clay. It’s what I feel like I’m going to be doing for the next 30 years.”

A terra cotta vessel rests on his potter’s wheel. Intricate carvings and deep scorings create a compelling design.

Bouck says this new series of work is motivated by more primitive art forms. “I lived in Nigeria for four years as a child. It’s had a big influence on my art.”

The whorls and directional lines in his work are inspired by landscapes seen from an airplane window or by a bird in flight.

“I was thinking about how birds follow the roads beneath them,” he said. “There’s a lot of symbolism in my work that’s reoccurring – a simple form turning into something that’s visually stimulating.”

Bouck recently returned from a two-month residency at the International Ceramics Research Center in Denmark. The country has a long history of ceramic art.

There, Bouck had the opportunity to work side by side with Sten Lykke Madsen, who has been working in this medium for more than 50 years.

Madsen is deaf and speaks only Danish, but, Bouck says, they were able to communicate. “We really bonded through sign language.” And, of course, art has its own dialect.

“I came away from Denmark with direction,” the young artist said. “I’m still learning. I still have a lot I want to achieve.”

Bouck’s work seems to invite touch. The complex carving compels the viewer’s fingers to trace its paths. And unlike many artists, Bouck is fine with that.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that I want people to feel free to touch my work. I was thinking how interesting it would be to expose my work to the blind,” he said.

The artist is serious about his craft, continually looking for ways to improve his skills. “If you study, you can excel, be innovative and create new things,” he said.

Bouck and his wife, Melissa Furness, will be moving to Colorado this summer with their newborn daughter, Pippa.

Furness will be teaching at the University of Colorado and Bouck plans to attend the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design.

He’s still experimenting with the firing process of his pieces. “I fire my work at extremely high temperatures,” he said, running his hands over a recently completed piece.

The heat adds permanence and strengthens the surface. But the delicate process is fraught with breakage, and he’s lost many pieces during the firing.

As Bouck pondered the fragile nature of ceramics, he said, “I think it would be something special if even fragments of my work survive.”