REVIEW
Horses were a favorite subject of ancient cave painters. Jeri Hollister, ceramic sculptor from Ann Arbor, brings those horses down from cave ceilings, builds them out of clay and “paints” them with soft glazed effects that make them as seductive as their ancient counterparts. Spots nicked through the surface glazing or symbols carved into the hollow body of the horse create magical effects. Built from hand-thrown and extruded components that are re-assembled according to equine conformation, Hollister combines two of the oldest media to awaken our senses in the 21st century.
-- The Detroiter --

BIOGRAPHY
I was born in Michigan and have lived in Ann Arbor since coming to the University of Michigan for college. After receiving my master of fine arts degree from the University of Michigan, I taught ceramics at Eastern Michigan University. I have also taught ceramics at the Ann Arbor Art Center, and at the Potters Guild in Ann Arbor. I hold a part-time position as Program Assistant at the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching at the University of Michigan.

From the Michigan Council for the Arts, I received an Individual Artists Grant in 1988, and a New Initiative for the Arts Stipend in 1989. I exhibit nationally and have won many awards including Best of Show in the Monarch Tile Company National Competition in 1996 and the purchase prize at the Michigan Ceramic Art Association juried exhibition in 2004.

My work is in numerous private collections as well as the corporate collections of the Monarch Tile Company, Ford Motor Company, Steelcase Corporation, Marriot Corporation, and Dow Automotive. Public collections include the Midland Center for the Arts in Midland, Michigan, the Paint Creek Center for the Arts in Rochester, Michigan, and the Washtenaw Community College Art Collection in Ann Arbor, Michigan. My work is also in an elementary school and city hall in Mino, Japan.

My work is featured on the cover of Best of New Ceramic Art by Toni Fountain Sikes. It is also in Robert Pipenberg's book, Spirit of Clay, and in the Guild Press Publications: Beautiful Things, and Object Lessons: Beauty And Meaning In Art. Pebble Press also featured my work in the Clay Art 2000 Calendar.

ARTIST STATEMENT
My most recognized work deals with the horse as subject matter. The viewer will probably have personal associations that will contribute to the character of the figure. Regardless of my intent, the work will communicate through the viewer's unique perspective. The horse has become a personal symbol. The animal continues to be a satisfying subject, providing me with challenges and direction.

Since pre-history, the horse has fascinated artists. It is a symbol of wealth and power, sensuality and independent spirit. My influences include sources from around the world and throughout the centuries. Among these sources are pre-historic cave images, Japanese Haniwa, Chinese Xian tomb figures and T'ang Dynasty ceramic sculpture. I am also influenced by the contemporary horse imagery of Deborah Butterfield and Susan Rothenberg, as well as other modern masters such as Marino Marini and Pablo Picasso.

When I work on the freestanding figures from the Tribute series, I start by extruding long hollow shapes and throwing closed forms on a wheel. When the clay has lost some moisture, I cut and tear the thrown and extruded parts, reassembling them at this stage to form the legs, haunches, shoulders, belly, neck and head of the horse. I work intuitively with the parts, altering them in a somewhat random manner, allowing the pieces to contribute to the shape and posture of the animal.

The piece is built from the ground up, attaching the legs to a base, and adding the other parts until the work is complete. Evidence of the ceramic process, the surface of the extrusions, the finger marks in the wheel thrown parts, the character of the clay when it is cut and torn is an important part of the piece. I am interested in allowing the evidence of the ceramic processes to be prominent in describing the physical attributes of the animal. My goal is for the viewer to have a sense of how the sculpture evolved as well as the energy involved in the building process.

Movement and gesture are emphasized through linear elements derived from the intersections of forms within the figure as well as those found in the silhouette. Mass and volume are described by both form and negative space. The surface is treated with slips, stains, and glazes with concern for allowing the building processes to show.

Often I look at a finished work and am surprised. The combination of each separate decision becomes larger than the sum of those decisions. There are forms I could not have imagined as a unit, yet they evolve from my hands and consciousness. Because I am focused on the process and decisions that I make one at a time, when I step back and see the entire piece, I have a feeling of seeing it for the first time.