Northville Art House presents the exhibition TransFORM

Northville Art House presents the exhibition TransFORM

TransFORM: Contemporary Artworks in Ceramics, Glass, and Metal

Northville Art House presents TransFORM: Contemporary Artworks in Ceramics, Glass, and Metal featuring the innovated expressions of six Metro Detroit artists ­­­­— Herb Babcock, John Beckman, Pamela Day, Ray Katz, John Albert Murphy, and Ann Smith. Working primarily in clay, glass, and metal, each artist has transformed their media into compelling decorative works of art. Works on view include stoneware, raku masks, ceramic heads, and sculptures in clay, glass, steel, stone, fiber, paper, and other materials.

Herb Babcock is an independent studio artist and Professor Emeritus with 40 years as the Glass Department Chairman at College for Creative Studies. He explores a quiet, meditative balance in his work that juxtaposes metal and stone while glass draws the viewer in with seductive light and radiant color.

John Beckman is a ceramic instructor and technician at Schoolcraft College. He creates functional and elaborate ceramic works through traditional and experimental hand and wheel-turned techniques.

Pamela Day is an active member of the Brighton Artist Guild, Detroit Society of Women Painters and Sculptors, and Michigan Ceramic Arts Association. She applies color, detail and expression to ceramic figurative sculptures that gives each a distinctive personality and brings them to life.

Ray Katz is a sculptor and Professor of Art at Oakland Community College, where he teaches sculpture, drawing and design. He assembles fabricated metal elements into abstract forms that suggest rhythm, action and movement, achieve visual balance, and represent the evolutionary process of life.

John Albert Murphy is a frequent adjunct professor of ceramics at Wayne State University, Schoolcraft College and Wayne County Community College. He forms shapes and patterns in his porcelain works and abstract assemblages to convey messages about daydreams, cultural events, and everyday life.

Ann Smith is a mixed media artist and certified welder with a BFA from College for Creative Studies. She shapes steel, natural materials and found objects, selected for their symbolism, inherent qualities and ability to be manipulated, into sculptures that unfold the mysteries of the world around her.

Smith often uses abandoned materials from decaying and demolished homes in her work. The materials are honored while being transformed into a new vision. In Lyrics of Necessity, she shares, “Allowing the materials to show reflects an honesty I feel is necessary. They are there to be read, should anyone look closely.”

TransFORM opens with a free public reception on Friday, November 2 from 6 – 9 p.m. The exhibition runs through Saturday, December 15 during Art House hours, Tuesday-Friday 12-5 p.m. and Saturday 12-4 p.m. The Art House will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, Wednesday – Saturday, November 21 – 24. The Northville Art House is located at 215 W. Cady in Northville, MI and online at www.northvillearthouse.org.