Alison Reintjes

My work references scientific and natural processes as the basis for abstract investigations into pattern, shape and color. With my functional work, I am primarily interested in discovering a dynamic sculptural form. How people put the object to use is of secondary importance. I might turn the Bauhaus credo on its head and say ‘Function follows form.’ I have seen many instances when commonplace objects have been adopted for functional purposes due to their compelling form. My geometric polygon vessels embody a strong graphic element and sculptural consideration even as they remain functional. The glazed surface accentuates and negates the form, taking advantage of the structure, but working independently of it as well.

Sculptural Statement

My work is about the basic tenets of the visual experience—shape, space, and pattern. I am attracted to simple geometries. I have no narrative or lesson to impart. The structures I compose are made up of parts whose final arrangement is determined by the interplay of a repeated form. I believe in letting this arrangement determine itself through a series of interactions or ‘rules’ that are self-evident. Examples of this include the order implied in the inherent constraints of geometric form or in naturally occurring complex, hierarchical systems.

Alison Reintjes is a ceramic artist living and working in Missoula, Montana. She first moved to Montana in 2001 for a residency at the Archie Bray Foundation. Alison studied at Kent State University, the Canberra School of Art in Australia, and Northern Michigan University. In addition to her time at the Archie Bray, Alison has held artist residencies at Greenwich House Pottery in New York, Jentel in Wyoming, Mount St. Francis in southern Indiana, and the Clay Studio of Missoula in Montana. She has worked as an instructor in many places including the Kentucky Museum of Art & Craft and the Missoula Art Museum. She has exhibited at the Oregon College of Arts & Crafts in Portland, AKAR Gallery in Iowa City, Museu de Ceramica de l’Alcora in Spain, ASU Ceramic Research Center in Tempe, Lill Street Art Center in Chicago and the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, among others.