T h e J o u r n e y
J a m e s
A a r o n s '
l o n g - t i m e
d a n c e
w i t h
c e r a m i c s
STORY BY Laura Silver
C
eramic artist James Aarons'
impulse to express ideas
through form and movement
has led him over the course of
his diverse and creative life from ceramics
to dance and back again to clay.
There is a kinship between the two
media - dance and clay - according
to the San Francisco Bay-area artist: "If I
had to define what I
do with clay in one
sentence, I
would say my work is about
gestures. Dance is movement in space.
I
happen to allow my movements, my
gestures, to fall off of the surfaces of the
clay, which I
use as my canvas."
Aarons, w ho has exhibited his work at
American Craft Council shows since
1 9 9 6
, as well as in galleries and
museums across the United States, is
known for his ceramic drawings and
painting, vessels, wall installations, and
tableware. Each piece or series confirms
that his
1
O year international modern
dance career lives on in his ceramic art.
His early experiments with clay illustrate
the determined w a y he's pursued
every creative endeavor.
Looking for a w a y to "survive
my teen years," he discovered
a ceramics studio near his
hometown of Pittsburgh and
persuaded the m anager to let
iim learn about clay.
That same urge to make his
teen years productive - or at
least bearable - led him to
dance, which he discovered
in high school.
"I w as completely
unathletic," he says.
"I couldn't bounce a ball
to save my life. But dance
w as this thing that w as
the hardest thing I
could
possibly do, and I
think the
challenge of it really inspired me to give
it a try."
His stubborn streak propelled him to
dance school.
"There w as something
about dance - and I
didn't understand
it then - but the simplicity, the direct
relationship between the human body
G eo d e Bowls
Booth
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