Mechanical vs. Botanical:
An interview with Oakland,
California Ceramic Artist, Bruk Dunbar
by Brad Bunkers
Bunkers: In 2001 you moved from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Oakland to pursue ceramics at California College of Arts and Crafts. What prompted this move and how did this geographic transition affect your work?
Dunbar: Initially I moved to Oakland to pursue a degree in metal and sculpture. This is something I felt I was good at seeing as how I had worked as a studio assistant for a jeweler in New Mexico as well as an artist who did architectural mosaics. My own work up until moving, had primarily been small metals and 2D work but within about a month, I realized that I had zero passion for either avenue. I had a really hard time expressing myself conceptually until I started screwing around in the clay studio. It was such an amazing transition, geographically speaking, to move from the desert to such a green and lush area. New Mexico's climate is restrictive in its botanical potential whereas Oakland seems to bloom and stay green year-round. This idea directly informed the sculptures I was making and the colors I was using. But also, I had left my car in New Mexico and just the act of walking everyday and really taking things in at a slower pace showed me new forms that I hadn't really thought about before. I started thinking a lot more about architecture, the way things are built, the wires and pipes that connect buildings and then construction equipment. I began to really love walking past backhoes digging in the streets and just being able to watch, instead of speeding past them in a car. I have a car out here now but I still stop and watch backhoes.
Bunkres:
When I look at your recent work, I see several pleasant contradictions. First, your surfaces have a graceful texture, a supple quality not often achieved in ceramics. Second, you breathe so much whimsy into your forms, giving inanimate machines a distinct, playful personality. Tell us more about this visual paradox.
Dunbar: Most of my recent works have had some great surface treatments and textures that previously I struggled with and hadn't been able to get. It's really hard to find the right glazes and get them down perfectly on the clay body. The thing about being a ceramic artist is that you have to be adept in a number of different mediums. You have to first be a sculptor, second a chemist if you are going to mix your own glazes or even to just figure out kiln science and how to get store bought glazes to the right consistency. Thirdly, once you have an understanding of how the glazes work and move on a surface, you have to be a painter with an awareness of color and placement. There are a lot of other kinds of artists you can be, of course, but I guess that just depends on what kind of ceramic artist you are. I love the science of it all and I really can't wait to open up my kilns when I get in the studio.
The forms that I have been inspired to use in my work generally are mechanical equipment in contrast with plant and botanical concepts. This is very much a product of my surroundings at this time. I walk around the industrial neighborhoods close to my studio and see all these great creatures, cranes that look like brontosaurus, cement trucks, dump trucks, backhoes, etc. How could you not be inspired by these things?! A lot of the older ones have some beautiful colors after they have rusted a bit or have had some paint chipped off. One amazing feature of my studio is that is sits right next to the train tracks, which can be a mixed blessing at times. While the trains can be really loud and obnoxious and kick up lots of dust, you still get to see what's being shipped back and forth, what is new in the graffiti world, and you get to walk along the tracks to your heart's content. I often see plants growing out of the tracks, or alongside the tracks and this just awes me. I love seeing plants taking back what was theirs in the first place. Lots of neglected buildings in the area are being taken over by all of these lush vines and creepers and certain plants pop up that completely cover some structures. I'm really interested in the movement of that growth, growth patterns, and what those plants choose to take over. So a lot of what comes across in my sculptures is a very playful, time-lapse of movement of plant growth, often surrounding or taking over a piece of machinery.
Bunkers: Let's talk about process. How do you translate the influences of your surroundings into a finished work of art? The work has a light, almost spontaneous feel. How much preliminary planning goes into your work? Walk us through you process.
Dunbar:
Well I am lucky enough to have a fairly large studio with multiple tables, surfaces, and lots of wall space. I generally have lots of ideas rolling around and I tend to work on many pieces at once. It's not unusual for me to have close to ten different pieces going on in at once in my studio, all in various stages of completion. Ceramics is usually filled with so much process in terms of the drying time, the initial firings, and the glaze firings, that it is really important for me to have lots of multiple pieces going on.
I don't plan too much of a piece in terms of drawings or models but I definitely have a strong concept when I begin. I usually start with a gesture, say the way a magnolia seed pod grows and explodes, exposing bright red seeds. I will usually go into the studio with that concept, the textures and colors in mind. Whatever I approach often ends up with characteristics of that gesture, for instance if I am sculpting a backhoe arm, the same lean of the seed pod from the branch will show up in the lean of the backhoe bucket off of the arm of the backhoe. I mostly know when a piece is working and can't wait to get it to a finished point. , but I do have those times where I am just stuck and have to put something aside for weeks, maybe months.
Bunkers: Your process seems fluid, bouncing from work to work, tending to multiple forms. As you work concurrently on several pieces how does the work unfold? Do you concentrate on individual works or on an overarching thematic series?
Dunbar: I guess I have to talk about how important installation is to me in a gallery space to answer that one. As much as I love working on individual pieces and having them be just that, I cant wait until I have a bigger show space to put up multiple works and have them interact. Many things that I am working on don't really feel complete until I have done a number of installations with them and figured out what they want to be. Most of my gallery shows have involved me painting on the walls behind pieces, which I could do for days on end and have on numerous occasions. My studio walls are filled up with me trying out different themes, painting and re-painting for each new piece I'm figuring out. I finally built a new wall in my studio to accommodate all my pre-installation painting needs.
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