The University of North Dakota’s Hughes Fine Arts Center welcomed a special exhibit this month. Ceramicist Elaine Olafson Henry’s collection, 50 Bowls, 50 States, 50 Woodfires, arrived on Feb. 5 and will remain in the Colonel Eugene E. Myers Art Gallery until its closing reception on Feb. 29, which the artist will attend.
The exhibit features a collection of porcelain bowls, all made of the same exact materials, that have each been fired in wood-burning kilns in every state in the country. The results of this undertaking are marvelous; each piece possesses hues and textures entirely unique to the circumstances in which they were fired. One can almost sense the spirit of each state proudly infused into the artwork.
Henry admits in her biography for the exhibit that she is not a functional potter. The sculptural vases she has created are displayed on her website and stand reminiscent of foliage and folded cloth. They are ethereal and brooding in nature. The bowls are a departure from that aesthetic; they are simple and sturdy while remaining whimsical by means of their four little fluted feet. The colors displayed in the glaze of each piece also vary. Be it a likely coincidence, the fact that Minnesota’s bowl is snowy white and blue, and Florida’s bowl is fiery orange and copper seems fitting.
Henry writes that the inspiration for the collection came unexpectedly. She had always liked the method of wood firing and was amazed to discover the range of possible outcomes when she first fired two identical bowls at the same time in 2015. Both pieces had been made of the same material, covered in the same glaze, and fired in the same kiln simultaneously, yet the many variables of a wood fire caused the two bowls to come out very differently. This began the ambitious project of creating one in every state.
Henry describes what it was like to receive each bowl back from its respective state fondly, “Each homecoming was like Christmas and a time to become reacquainted.” Seeing all the pieces together in the gallery, one feels a sense of familial connection between the bowls and a fondness for their idiosyncrasies. They are all brothers and sisters in material and shape and yet each one has a completely unique story to tell. The artist articulated this well in her claim that each piece has the “same DNA.”
Henry is a highly involved ceramics artist, curator, writer, and local volunteer, according to her website. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Wyoming and a master’s degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale before teaching and serving as the Chair of the Department of Art at Emporia State University in Kansas for many years. According to a 2019 Sheridan Press article, Henry decided to get one more master’s degree at the age of 73 in English from the University of Wyoming. Henry has been a well-known name in ceramics for many years and has displayed her work all over the world.
The exhibit’s closing reception will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Feb. 29. Students and community members are invited to see the exhibit in the Colonel Eugene E. Myers Art Gallery of the Hughes Fine Arts Center on the evening of the reception or during regular gallery hours throughout the week.
Quindelynne Davis is a Dakota Student General Reporter. She can be reached at [email protected].
