Tiffany Schmierer, Three Dimensional Ceramic Collage, Plus Two Additional Shows, July 15 – Aug 14, 2022

Sanchez Art Center Presents:

• Tiffany Schmierer’s (Three Dimensional Ceramic Collage) “Interconnections”,
• “Essential Truths, Bay Area Aritsts in Color”
• A group show by Art Guild of Pacifica members”Positively Beastly”

Sanchez Art Center celebrates the summer with three new exhibitions, featuring Interconnections by ceramic artist Tiffany Schmierer; plus Essential Truths, Bay Area Artists in Color, showcasing 10 local artists whose work expresses their perspectives as Black, Brown, Indigenous and/or People of Color (BIPOC); and, a group show by Art Guild of Pacifica members, Positively Beastly. The opening reception for the three concurrent shows is on Friday, July 15, from 7 to 9 pm, with music by Vivace.

Tiffany Schmierer utilizes handbuilding, printmaking, marking and relief techniques to create richly detailed colorful structures out of mid-range fired ceramics.  Her intuitive approach results in assembled sculptures with a density of pattern, imagery and detail.  The artist notes, “Rather than edit down to the minimal, I embrace the intricacy of our visual culture. Formative practices of collecting and arranging, constructing from found materials, and filling the drawing page have been a continuous influence on my maximalist approach and aesthetic. I think of my sculptures as three-dimensional collages, where chains of ideas are layered to create a cohesive whole.”

Schmierer loves the versatility of clay, along with its physical, tactile, and expressive qualities. Once constructed, her ceramic sculptures become canvases to explore drawing, painting, and printmaking techniques.

The theme that weaves through this series is the interconnections we have with each other and with our complex environment. Taking a moment to appreciate these inner and outer ties promotes much-needed empathy and caring for the complex invisible web that we link to and which shapes us.

Tiffany Schmierer grew up in the Philadelphia suburb of West Chester. She completed her BFA degree at the University of Oklahoma in three-dimensional arts, and then moved to the West Coast where she earned her MFA in ceramics from San Francisco State University.

The artist’s pieces have been exhibited in regional, national, and international exhibitions. Venues that have shown her work include the American Museum of Ceramic Art, Crocker Art Museum, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, John Natsoulas Center for the Arts, Gallery Susan Alexander, Manna Gallery, and Clay Mix Gallery.

Schmierer is a Professor of Art at Skyline College in San Bruno, CA, where she has run the ceramics program for the last 15 years. She has also taught ceramics at San Francisco State University, Merritt College, Cosumnes River College, Cabrillo College, and in workshops and community classes throughout the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Schmierer currently works out of her San Francisco home studio.

The public is invited to enjoy a talk by Tiffany Schmierer on Sunday, Aug 14, 3:30 pm.  This talk is presented through Sanchez Art Center’s free art education and engagement programming.

Essential Truths, Bay Area Artists in Color, will open the same evening, July 15, in the East Gallery.  Six of ten Bay Area residents are people of color, yet remain under-represented in the arts.  Write Now! SF Bay Founder/ Director Shizue Seigel has brought together ten local artists whose work expresses their perspectives as Black, Brown, Indigenous and/or People of Color (BIPOC).  These creative talents are:  Salma Arastu, Adrian Arias, Lorraine Bonner, C. K. Itamura, Choppy Oshiro, Shizue Seigel, Malik Seneferu, Twin Walls Mural Company (Elaine Chu, Marina Perez-Wong), and Mel Waters.

Besides being visual artists, they are poets, performers, healers, educators, and community activists. Their work enlarges our understanding of social justice and inspires us to actively contribute to a better world. They ask: What lessons can we learn from history? How do we define who is American? What can we do to foster a just and compassionate society?

This exhibition is a companion to the Write Now! anthology of poetry, prose, and artwork—Essential Truths: The Bay Area in Color (Pease Press, 2021, 328 pp.).  Special events during the exhibition include a virtual artist panel, Wed, July 20, 7 – 8:30 pm and an in-person gallery walk/talk, Sunday, July 31, 2:00 pm.

Concurrently, in the West Gallery, the Art Guild of Pacifica presents a group themed show, Positively Beastly.  From a whimsical dragon to spiders, bison, dogs, cats, and eerie landscapes in acrylic, watercolor, oil and three-dimensional works, the theme has been interpreted in ways that are positively creative.

Sanchez Art Center is located at 1220 Linda Mar Blvd in Pacifica, about a mile east of Highway 1. Following opening night, the galleries are open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 1–5 pm, and during the week by appointment, through Aug 14. For more information, info@SanchezArtCenter.org or  650.355.1894 or visit SanchezArtCenter.org.