Artist Bio
Virginia “Gin” Hurley, currently lives in her home town of Bethlehem, North Carolina. Raised in a small town she was always attracted to art and creation. In highschool she had an introduction to ceramics that led her to seek out more knowledge about the medium. With her family she was managing a public casting studio and ceramic shop at the age of 16. She learned much about firing and casting in this time along with a strong understanding of small business ownership.
Attending UNC Charlotte College, she focused on Ceramics with a close interest in glaze and throwing in her program and completed her studies with a BA in Ceramics in 2008. With a minor in American Sign Language.
Prior to graduation she was invited to teach ceramics at the local YMCA working often with underprivileged and special needs youth and the Deaf Community. This passion for working with those that may otherwise have missed out on art followed her to Salt Lake City Utah while she worked in the public school system as an art instructor for extended education programs and with special needs work activities.
Once she returned to North Carolina she was able to take the experiences she had to build her own personal studio while working on community grants and teaching through community programs. She worked with many groups including returning to underprivileged youth and also the elderly sharing art and creativity. She has worked as both an events and Activities Director with seniors and the general public in both teaching and nonprofits.
Though this time Gin grew as a potter, developing from functional ware to form and design based vessels. The process of the creation became fundamental in the design as well as the visual aesthetic of the piece. Her struggle and use of juxtaposition involving control of surface and environment became fundamental in the creation of her work.
Attending UNC Charlotte College, she focused on Ceramics with a close interest in glaze and throwing in her program and completed her studies with a BA in Ceramics in 2008. With a minor in American Sign Language.
Prior to graduation she was invited to teach ceramics at the local YMCA working often with underprivileged and special needs youth and the Deaf Community. This passion for working with those that may otherwise have missed out on art followed her to Salt Lake City Utah while she worked in the public school system as an art instructor for extended education programs and with special needs work activities.
Once she returned to North Carolina she was able to take the experiences she had to build her own personal studio while working on community grants and teaching through community programs. She worked with many groups including returning to underprivileged youth and also the elderly sharing art and creativity. She has worked as both an events and Activities Director with seniors and the general public in both teaching and nonprofits.
Though this time Gin grew as a potter, developing from functional ware to form and design based vessels. The process of the creation became fundamental in the design as well as the visual aesthetic of the piece. Her struggle and use of juxtaposition involving control of surface and environment became fundamental in the creation of her work.
Artist Statement
Pottery has always had an element of flame involved in the process. From the gas kiln to the pit fire all are using heat and flame to make alchemy, by turning clay into a stone. Taking this wet material, allowing it to be formed, molded, then hardened to the perfect amount before polished and allowed to dry. Then to fire it in a series of kilns with differing surfaces, is magic.
I find meaning in the comparison of the “lifecycle” of a pot as that with a person’s being. We start as this malleable substance, all the materials are there, but needing to be shaped, and formed. With a bit of time and polish it can become a lovely form, however until it has withstood a trial of true pressure and struggle it will remain fragile. Though in the end even the marks from the trials and tribulations are part of the beauty and give the piece a true character.
I find even more joy when the surface is something as simple as the polished clay with a natural item such as a hair or feather fused to its surface at high temperature. Nature remains in all its given components yet becoming something it would not have achieved without the artist's hand.
I find meaning in the comparison of the “lifecycle” of a pot as that with a person’s being. We start as this malleable substance, all the materials are there, but needing to be shaped, and formed. With a bit of time and polish it can become a lovely form, however until it has withstood a trial of true pressure and struggle it will remain fragile. Though in the end even the marks from the trials and tribulations are part of the beauty and give the piece a true character.
I find even more joy when the surface is something as simple as the polished clay with a natural item such as a hair or feather fused to its surface at high temperature. Nature remains in all its given components yet becoming something it would not have achieved without the artist's hand.
Taylorsville, NC
va.tigersmoon@gmail.com
va.tigersmoon@gmail.com
“This project received support from the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of North Carolina, the Burke Arts Council, the Caldwell Arts Council, the United Arts Council of Catawba County, the Rock School Arts Foundation, the Hiddenite Center, Iredell Arts Council, and McDowell Arts Council Association.”
