Donna NicholasDonna Nicholas
My work in the 1960's and early '70's was primarily sculptural and fired in the low temperature (cone 06-04) range. During the mid to late '70's 1 experimented with raku. salt glazing, and porcelain, still in the sculptural format. By the 1 980's 1 settled upon a white earthenware clay body and multiple glaze firing at cone 06 to 04 as best expressing my ideas and my interest in layered, rich, colorful surfaces. My work in the '80's consisted of a large number of vessels along with the development of my scuptural ideas. From the late 1 9801s, I have dealt with two overlaid themes: the shimenawa. a sacred rope that adorns Japanese Shinto shrines. and the image of a tornado. stemming from a tornado that occurred in my area in 1985. The shimenawa rope motifs and the tornado shape occur in diptych form in wall pieces and in free standing sculptures, where the tornado image is defined in the negative space between two forms. From this time almost all of my pieces are composed of two separate elements. with the space between them being an important part of the image.
I am interested in form/space relationships which are dynamic, tenuous, and which evoke the energy and tensions I see in nature. dance. and Japanese calligraphy. The five years I spent in Japan (1959-64) had a strong influence on how I see and design form and space. I use glaze color and texture to enhance those relationships in the pieces.
My clay sculptures are slab construction. often with extruded or press molded alterations. They are made from a low fire white clay, decorated with underglazes. slips, and glazes, and multifired to cone 04 in an electric kiln to build layered. textured surfaces.
Most recently I have moved away from abstraction, and have begun incorporating the human figure in mixed media (clay and wood) sculptures.
October28, 1994
DONNA L. NICHOLAS 119 Valley View Dr. Edinboro, PA, 16412 USA TEL: 814-734-5001 FAX: 814-734-5919 EDUCATION 1964-66 M.F.A., Claremont Graduate School, Claremont, California 1955-59 B.A., cumlaude, Pomona College, Claremont, Californla 1967, summer Michigan State Unlverslty, sculpture 1965, summer Stanford University, advanced Japanese 1963-64 Studied history of Japanese art with Prof. Toru Mori of Osaka University 1960-62 Studled ceramics wlth Hiroaki Talmei Morino, Kyoto, Japan; maintained my own studio there from 1962-64 TEACHING 1969- Edinboro Unlversity of Pennsylvania, Professor of Art 1975, spring Moore College of Art, Philadelphla, Pennsylvania, Visiting Associate Professor 1974, fall Scripps College and Claremont Graduate School. Claremont, California. Visiting Associate Professor 1966-69 Mott Community College, Flint, Michigan, Instructor 1965-66 Claremont Unified School District. Claremont, California, Instructor, adult education 1960-64 Y.M.C.A., Kyoto. Japan, English instructor 1959-60 Doshisha Women's College, Kyoto, Japan, English Instructor TRAVEL 1967 Mexico, to visit potteries and archaeological sites 1971 England, to see potteries and sacred sites 1984 China, to visit potteries and archaeologlcal sites 1989 USSR, Latvia, and Estonia, as guest of Soviet Artists' Union, to lecture and meet with ceramic artists 1994 Japan, to visit potteries and research work of women ceramists AFFILIATIONS AND OFFICES National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts American Crafts Council (Pennsylvania representative to the Northeast Regional Assembly (1975-78) Northwest Pennsylvania Artists Association Associated Artists of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Crafts Advisory Panel,1982-84,1986-88 Erie Art Museum Board of Directors, Chairperson. Collections Committee,1987- Creative Education Foundation BIOGRAPHICAL LlSTINGS Who's Who in American Art, Who's Who In America. Who's Who in the East, Contemporary Personalities, World Who's Who of Women, International Who's Who of Business and Professional Women, Dictionary of International Biography VIDEO 1990 Donna Nicholas. 7 minute video produced by WVIA-TV. Allentown, PA; segment of PORTRAITS series on Pennsylvania artists ARTICLES PUBLISHED 1972 XXVII Syracuse National, Craft Horizons, December 1980 A Potters' Dozen. NCECA Journal 1988 From the Inside Out, NCECA Journal 1992 Gaijin, Studio Potter. winter 1994 Japanese Women Ceramists-Part l Studio Potter, winter 1995 Japanese Women Ceramists-Part ll Studio Potter, winter SELECTED COLLECTIONS Lowe Gallery, University of Miami, Florida, Flint Institute of the Arts, Flint, Michigan Plains Art Museum, Moorehead. Minnesota, California State University, San Luis Obispo, California Robert Pfannebecker, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Erie Art Museum, Erie, Pennsylvania Mukhina, St. Petersburg University of Art, USSR