1\/lARDIS NENNC>: C>RIEL

There is a Mary Oliver poem, a meditation really, that contains the haunting line "Doesn't

everything die at last, and too soon?" The poem itself, entitled "The Summer Day," is a celebration

of life, a marveling at grassy fields, and an appreciation of a solitary grasshopper. It's a deceptively

simple paean to earthly pleasures and ordinary happiness But without that whisper of mortality,

that reminder that this one shot might be all we've got, the poem would not be as delicately

compelling as it is. It's as if a window opens briefly, changing the light and colors of a room so

that suddenly everything is cast in stark, bracing high-relief There is a similar dynamic at work in

the contemporary ceramics of Mardis Nenno.

The dual tensions of strength and fragility,

limitation and liberation are embodied in her

pieces, which have ranged over the years from

archetypal human figures to "ordinary" objects

- boats, shoes, needles, chairs - that resonate

for the artist on a number of levels.

In her new show Oriel, the exhibit space is

an intrinsic part of the art. The Oxford English

Dictionary defines an oriel as "A large polygonal

recess with a window, projecting from a building,

usually an upper storey, and supported from the

ground or on corbels." While this is not a literal

description of the Arcade Gallery itsel f- the space

is on the ground floor, is long, and is rectangular

rather than polygonal- it is a capable metaphor

for the way Nenno feels about this work and

how the viewer might observe it. She uses the

word "oriel" here to convey apetures, windows

and openings, and entrances. Constrained as her pieces are by size and glass, they nevertheless

convey a sense of transcendence, of reaching beyond physical circumstances.

2

For instance the piece Sola, (fig. 4) is a simple clay chair. Its unrefined, hand-molded lines

suggest a primitive and earth-bound delight in creating. But the ladder-back of the chair and the

fleshy colors of the clay suggest something different. There is a figurative aspect to the chair and

how it balances on a small circle of light while supporting the miniscule weight of a blue sparrow.

The upward movement of the ladder-back and the repose and color of the bird indicate hopeful

migration, a tiny moment of catching-one's-breath before moving to higher ground. The fact that

the viewer sees this through a pane of glass facilitates an experience of subtle longing

Nenno typically uses simple common objects - pillows, chairs, windows, sewing

needles, birds - as a visual language to represent that which is both prosaic and otherworldly The

pieces in the Oriel exhibit are a series of ladders, windows, and chairs, all divulging a narrative of

climbing up, out and through In many cases the feeling is one of stretching, of getting closer to an

elevated realm In others the pieces are heavier, more monolithic. Preguntas, while incorporating the

ladder-like shape of many of the other pieces, offers the viewer a solid and implacable presence. Its

earth brown tones suggest something very old, as do the pale swoops of script and drips of green

glaze on its surface. Inscribed into the surface of the clay is more handwriting, but the words

are impossible to make out; the meanings

of the layers of text are shrouded in

mystery. The words are, according to

Nenno, questions to her dead father and

are deliberately illegible. PregunLas, (fig. 2) is

one of three similar structures written as

"earthbound letters to ones who have died."

Personal narrative has been a part

of her work for the past twenty years

Nenno took some classes at the Archie

Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana, as

a neophyte potter. but it wasn't until her

residency there in early 2006 that she had

a space of uninterrupted time in which

she could focus solely on her work. The

environment at "the Bray," which Nenno

describes fondly as "anarchy at its finest,"

meant that she was allowed to follow her

own rhythms and work according to her

own internal schedule and inclinations. The

pieces she constructed at the Archie Bray

Foundation became part of the exhibit Seams,

which opened earlier this year at the Lorinda

Knight Callery in Spokane and on which

she collaborated with her former sister-in-

law. The themes of the show had to do with

her family history and with the matriarchal

legacy of coming from a long line of women

ho sew. Other personal, deeply individual

themes appearing throughout the body of 3

Nennos work include insomnia, a fascination with solitude, and the imperative of the spiritual

journey.

The ceramic forms in Oriel represent formal responses not only to the space in which they

will be displayed but also the physical challenges of the medium itself. Nenno has practiced

sculptural clay work and taught it at the college level for twenty years and is more than familiar with

the technical challenges of her medium, but she refuses to shy away from the fragility of ceramic

sculpture or the inevitable losses in the proving ground of the kiln. She enjoys working on a large

scale, even when it means making pieces that are impossible to lift or things that break from the

gravity of their own heft. In her surfaces, she strives for a "rich thin skin," a "seamless union

between form and surface." In the pieces for Oriel she employs earthenware and stoneware clays,

soda firing, and multiple rounds in the kiln for the actual forms; the surfaces are developed using

terra siggilatas, patinas, slips, vitreous engobes, and glazes The clay is both veiled and revealed

through the combination of these processes

Returning to the interpretations of the word "oriel" and a consideration of these pieces, it's

clear that Oriel the exhibit is very much a window, a view of the upper stories, and even a bit of a

recessed sanctuary, all at once. The ladders, birds, rich colors, and primitive formations offer a

very human narrative; there is both refuge and challenge in the experience of viewing this work. At

the same time there is something organic in the pieces, a sort of natural architecture as if built by

swallows or wasps. In looking at Nenno's body of work it is clear that she has been making holes,

piercings, openings, and windows for some time - even the negative spaces in the ladder shapes of

Oriel are windows defined by rungs. The gaps between the bits of clay, the places where air meets

matter, are designed to allow new vistas in familiar gallery spaces and to give shape to the hope of

spiritual liberation and migration.

4

Sheri BoggsSeattle, Washington

IMAGES

Cover: Migration, 2007 Ceramic (stoneware). 32" x 12" X 10".#.1:Needlestack, 2006, Soda-fire (stoneware). 36" X 14" X 8".#2: Prcguntas(detail), 2006 Ceramic, 40" x l4" X 6".#3: Lhasa, 2007, Ceramic (stoneware and earthenware), 60" X 12" X 6".#4: Sola, 2006, Earthenware, 21" X 6" X 6".

MARDIS S. NENNO1952 Born Buffalo, New York; resides in Spokane, WA

EDUCATION

1986 M.FA, Washington State University, Pullman, WA1974 B.FA, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2006 Resident Artist. Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT1993 Adjunct Instructor, Fine Arts, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA1991- Instructor, Fine Arts, Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane, WA

SELECTED ONE AND TWO PERSON EXHIBITS

2007 Mardis NenJiO:Oriel, Jundt Art Museum, Spokane, WA2006 Seam A FamilyGeography, Lorinda Knight Gallery, Spokane, WA2003 Deep Sleep, North Idaho College, Coeur d'Alene, [D1999 Safe Passage, Spokane ArL School, Spokane, WA1994 Vis~!lA1Repairs: Seeing Is Believing, Chase Gallery, Spokane, WA1989 ReleJitWurb, Spokane All School, Spokane, WA1988 Betha Gutschej Mardis ThoreSOJi, Alonso Sullivan Gallery, Seattle, WA1987 Domestic Clay, Fine Arts Gallery, EWU, Cheney, WA[986 M.FA Exhibit, Gallery Two, WSU, Pullman, WA

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITS

2006 Resident Artist Exhibit,Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT2006 International Symposium Exhibit, Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT2005 S(iift, Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane, WA1999 Faculty Exhibit, Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane, WA1999 19,f,AIi1iuai Norlhwesl International, Whatcom Art Museum, Bellingham, WA1996 Faculty Exhibit, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA1996 Faculty Exhibit, Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane, WA1991 the story of my life, Chase Gallery Spokane, WA1991 Elitism and Art, Spokane Art School, Spokane, WA1990 Goodwill Art EX(iibit, Goodwill Games, Spokane, WA1990 100Years of Washington Art, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA1990 Faculty Efhibit, Koehler Gallery, Whitworth College, Spokane, WA1988 Chuck Hilides alid Friends, AD Gallery, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA1988 Faculty Exhibit, Koehler Gallery, Whitworth College, Spokane, WA1988 Sculpture: Escape FromTradition, Alonso Sullivan Gallery, Seattle, WA1988 Refiections Through the Fire, Eastern Oregon State College, Lagrande, OR1987 Lenexa National 3-D Exhibit, Lenexa, KS1987 Ceramic WOdiS Index Gallery, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR1986 Ceramic 1Iivitational, EWU, Cheney, WA

This publication was funded by the Jundt Art Museum's Annual Campaign, 2006- 2007

©Jundt Art Museum, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA 99258-0001