Artists Make Ceramic Mosaics for UAS Sitka

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Created on Wednesday, 30 October 2024 13:06

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By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    After months of working to shape ceramic and glass pieces into artistic renderings of sea life, two UAS students have produced a pair of mosaic pieces that now adorn entrances to UAS, Sitka Campus.
    The mosaics, which depict ocean scenes, were made by Lenise Henderson and Auriella Hughes, and the university unveiled the pieces in a ceremony Monday.

Artists Auriella Hughes, left, and Lenise Henderson point to their 40-inch mosaic discs attached to entryways at UAS Sitka Campus during an unveiling ceremony Monday. The women are students at the school and created the work through an Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity grant from the university. The discs were made using different techniques. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

    Liz Zacher, associate professor of art, teaches many students in ceramics and pottery, but this was her first time giving instruction in mosaics.
    “It’s just really, really exciting for me as a teacher to see students doing this, and how it encourages other students,” Zacher said.
    The project was made possible by an Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity grant from the university. Last year, three UAS students received URECA grants: Gayleen Jacobs for screen printings of trickster mythology; Jo Ingman for digital art and laser engraving; and Jacob Kohlhoff for glaze chemistry research.
    Planning for this year’s pair of 40-inch circular mosaics got off the ground last fall, and the physical work commenced in the spring semester this year.
    Henderson, who moved to Sitka from Haines when her son enrolled at Mt. Edgecumbe High, is an experienced painter, but mosaics are a new medium for her.
    “I was a painter before, so mosaic caught my interest, and I used to help restore old buildings up in Haines,” Henderson told the Sentinel Monday. “I love working on old architectural stuff. And so my project is done very differently than Auriella’s – mine’s done with architectural outdoor clay.”
    Now placed above the southern entrance to the campus building, Henderson’s mosaic shows the molded form of a sea otter holding a sea urchin, and the glazed ceramic extends to show the waves around the animal. The mosaic covers what was previously a plain, red steel disk, and is bolted in place.
    “I built mine with construction in mind. So we’ve got a layer of steel, a layer of marine ply, and the grout that you’re seeing there is actually built for swimming pools,” Henderson said. “... Because it’s a research grant, I’m trying to find outdoor material that can withstand our rain, wind, seismic, and so I’ll be watching this piece. We’ve got architectural clay, we’ve got architectural grout, we’ve got a steel frame, and then we’ve got a whole bunch of work. And mine was a big, huge collaboration, because I was pretty new at this, so a lot of people in the studio gave me input. And it was really hard, the texture on the ocean water.”
    She said she used a textured ball to roll wet clay into a form that mimics the action of ocean waves.
    Originally Hughes and Henderson planned to work together on a single mosaic, but they decided instead to work on separate pieces.
    While Henderson used a backing of marine plywood, Hughes built her mosaic on wedi board, material with a waterproof surface often used in construction.
    Her mosaic depicts a host of sea life, with large salmon swimming, flanked by a school of silver herring and a single red rockfish. Stained glass – each piece arranged to create a sense of light and motion in the water – fills much of the remainder of the frame. The piece is situated at the northeast entrance of the building, facing Sitka Channel.
    Hughes, who worked as a nurse for four decades before retiring, has long had an interest in art, specifically in ceramics. She was a co-founder of the Island Artists Gallery in downtown Sitka, and was also founding director of the nonprofit social service nonprofit Brave Heart Volunteers. She was a driving force behind the now-annual Brave Heart Bowls fundraiser, in which locally made ceramics are sold to raise money for the program.
    “Doing ceramics gave me a good excuse to make bowls, but I never stopped,” Hughes said. At the unveiling ceremony she explained her decision to pursue a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts after a career in nursing. “It’s kind of like coming full circle from the place where I started when I was younger,” she said.
    It was nine months from the time she and Henderson wrote the grant to the day they completed their projects.
    Hughes expressed gratitude to Karen Ami, founder of the Chicago Mosaic School, who gave advice regarding materials and construction of a piece designed to survive outdoors in a wide range of weather conditions. Hughes also worked with Sharon Svenson, a noted mosaic artist who lives in Haines.
    Hughes said her goal was to create a scene of sea life around Sitka.
    “Liz (Zacher) and I talked initially about doing an underwater scene that had to do with honoring how important the environment is here in Sitka, the ocean environment, and the kelp and the salmon –– we live off of those things. Especially the salmon is a huge element, and I always like rockfish because I think they’re undervalued, they’re so delicious... And the herring, of course, is a huge element for Sitka, very meaningful for the Alaska Native people here. So I just knew I wanted to include those elements.”
    Her mosaic is a multimedia piece, with 1,521 ceramic and glass pieces creating a scene on a 40-inch custom welded steel frame. Hughes said she’s honored that it’s displayed in such a prominent place.
    “I feel honored by it, completely honored,” she said. “And when I was talking with the group, I started to tear up and cry because, first of all, I was so grateful for the support I received. And second of all, it was such a labor of love...  and to have it be finished, it’s a huge relief.”
    UAS-Sitka Campus Director Paul Kraft told the Sentinel he hopes the campus, with its small art department, can continue to encapsulate some of Sitka’s artistic side.
    “We live in a community that has a love of art, and we want the university to reflect that and to support it. We want to be a resource for people who want to experience, create art for the first time, or continue to develop and hone their skills,” he said. “The thrill for me was to see two students who had really not a lot of experience in this medium create something that I thought was quite brilliant.”