By Shanece Brent, Staff Writer

Published in print Nov. 2, 2014

When I first headed to the Greensboro’s Cultural Museum on North Davie Street to view the current exhibition at the African American Atelier, I didn’t know what I was in for. I don’t consider myself an “art person,” I barely know the difference between shading and gradient, and with a name like “Broken Dishes” the idea of visiting the gallery made me a bit nervous.

But when I walked through the glass doors of the Atelier and took a look around, I was surprised by what I saw. For one thing, a cracked clay model of the Wake Forest University seal, crafted by Peter Strafaci, was the only broken dish in the collection of 20+ pieces by regional artists. The rest of the works were either ceramic or clay sculptures, each created with a stunning amount of detail.

In addition to the WFU seal, Peter Strafaci also contributed a series of three vases to the collection, a clay mosaic, and a wide mouthed, wavy bowl, which looked as if it had been harvested from the sea, simply titled “Slab Bowl”.

Artist Roshawn Hill had several pieces of untitled pottery in the exhibit, including a ceramic bowl which was lightly decorated on the outside, but glazed on the inside, holding a burgundy puddle at the bottom and streaks of red along the sides. 

Another of Hill’s pieces, titled “Dreaming” was composed of two sheets of glass mounted in an unpainted plank of wood. Between the two slabs of glass were streaks of color and splotches of red, blue, green, yellow, and white paint which reminded me of brain scans.

Senora Lynch also created several of the pieces housed in the exhibit. One, titled “Owls in the Woods”, was a piece of red clay pottery decorated with beige leaves and thick swirls which resembled both tree branches and large, dizzying owl’s eyes. Lynch also created “The Turtle Plate”, a beige clay plate designed with a red flower border and a turtle with a flowered shell at its center, and “The Blanket Dance”, which is a red clay vase shaped like a woman wrapped in a flower blanket.

My favorite works of art in the gallery were two beautiful and meticulously detailed pieces by Emily Dolce. “Temptations” by Dolce is a dark grey ceramic sculpture of a woman’s torso, back and shoulders arched in what could either be submission or prayer. Her back is decorated in golden outlines of what look like plates. I was amazed by the detail in this sculpture; you can see the muscles in the figure’s arms and the outline of her spine, the stomach is folded where she is bending, and she even has a belly button.

Dolce’s next figure, titled “Rage” is an incredibly life-like piece which left me wondering about the story behind it. “Rage” is a ceramic bust of a male figure. The figure’s mouth is open in a roar, the bridge of his nose is furrowed with frustration, and the hair on his head, beard and eyebrows are flecked with gold.

As someone who previously thought I wasn’t into art, viewing this exhibition proved to be an eye opening adventure, revealing how entertaining and imaginative sculptural art can be. If you are interested in seeing these unique pieces for yourself, or even purchasing one of the pieces that are for sale, the gallery is open until November 21, Tuesday – Saturday: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., and Sunday:  2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.