www.patlay.com
ARTIST'S STATEMENT:
My Transhuman Personae are hybrid, post-human forms that personify the coalescence of technology and the human spirit. On one hand they reference the idealized portraits from many cultures including the altar heads of the Ife and Benin Kingdoms in Nigeria, the gods and goddesses of Greek Classical sculpture, Buddha and the Hindu deities. On the other hand, Dada and Surrealism are important sources. The Transhuman Personae are seen and experienced as metaphors of the human experience in the 21st Century.
Almost every culture has it’s altar heads that reflect the time and culture in which they were created. Most recently I have been fascinated with the minkisi Power Figures of the Western Congo Basin in Africa. The accumulation of materials on these figures acts as protection, and give the figures power. In a new body of work I am creating 21st Century power figures that reflect our culture and experience.
The computer has been instrumental in changing our identity as humans. The new works are adorned with the accumulation of computers parts. The computer parts harbor intelligent data, imply a function, act as protection and give the figures power.
Another theme that I have been fascinated by is human adornment and the human skin as canvas. Adornment and personal decoration in the form of tattooing, scarification, body and face painting has been practiced in many cultures for centuries. Individuals in contemporary culture have adapted these practices to show not only their individuality but also their power as humans. I adorn my power figures with a system of signs that reflect our contemporary culture.
A new series of collage works are composed of digital images of the sculptures, digital images of computer parts and actual computer parts. The works on paper extend the themes in the sculptures by offering multiple interpretations.
BIOGRAPHY:
Pat Lay has received two grants in sculpture from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and a grant from the American Scandinavian Foundation. She has been awarded three public art commissions including the installation of a large-scale site-specific sculpture in the sculpture park at the Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter in Oslo, Norway. Her work has been included in group exhibitions in Japan, Austria, Korea, China, Norway and Slovakia and at the Jersey City Museum, Newark Museum, New Jersey State Museum, The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Montclair Art Museum, The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Everson Museum, and the 1975 Biennial Exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Lay’s work is in the collections of the Montclair Art Museum, the New Jersey State Museum, Jingdezhen Sanbao Art Institute, Jingdezhen, P.R.China, Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter, Oslo, Lay's work is featured in a number of books including Lives and Works, Talks With Women Artists, Volume II by J. Arbeiter, B. Smith, S. Swenson; Working in Clay and The Craft and Art of Clay both by Susan Peterson. A graduate of Pratt Institute and Rochester Institute of Technology, Lay is a Professor of Art at Montclair State University in New Jersey.
Abridged Version 2009
EDUCATION:
M.F.A. Rochester Institute of Technology
B.S. Pratt Institute
GRANTS:
1996 The American Scandinavian Foundation
1988 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship in Sculpture
1983 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship in Sculpture
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
1992 Condeso/Lawler Gallery (Project Space), NYC
1987 Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ
1974 New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ
1973 Douglass College, Women Artists Series, Rutgers University, New Brunswick
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2008 Rupert Ravens Contemporary, Newark NJ
2008 Mashiko Museum, Mashiko, Japan, East/West 2008
2007 Montgomery Center for the Arts, Skillman, NJ, Science As Muse
2005 Loveed Fine Arts at Gallery Pahk, Madison Ave. @ 77th St., NYC
2004 Loveed Fine Arts at Gallery Pahk, Madison Ave. @77th St. NYC
2004 Noyes Museum, NJ, Altars, Icons and Symbols: Exploring Spirituality in Art,
2004 Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, Rutgers University, NJ, Diverse Directions in Printmaking
2003 Kunstlerhaus, Graz, Austria, Connections: Montclair/ Graz, curated by Olya Shevchenko
2003 Wonkwang Univ./Montclair State Univ. Exchange Exhibition, Iksan City, Jeonbuk, South Korea
2002 Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ," New Jersey Fine Arts Annual" (Juried)
2002 Medium Gallery, Academy of Fine Arts, Bratislava, Slovakia, "Clay: Common Experiences"
2000 Ceres Gallery, New York City, "Lives and Works, The Exhibition"
1999 Soho 20 Gallery, New York City, "1999 East & West"
1999 Mi Qiu Modern Art Workshop, College of Fine Arts, Shanghai University, China; "Transcending Boundaries"
1996 New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, N.J.; "Six Artists: The 1990's"; George Segal, John Goodyear, Gary Kuehn, Bill Barrell, Emma Amos, Pat Lay
1996 Douglass College, Rutgers University, "25 Years of Feminism, 25 Years of Women's Art."
1995- Traveling Exhibition, Norway: "N.Y, N.Y: Clay; curated by Judith Schwartz; Rogaland
1996 Kunstnersenter, Stavanger, Hordaland Kunstnersenter, BergenNordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum, Trondheim, Ostfold Kunstnersenter, Fredrikstad.
1992 Robeson Gallery, Rutgers University, "New Jersey Project Invitational"
1991 Aljira. A Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ
1990 The Gallery at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, NJ; "Two Generations of Sculptors." (Edwards, Ewing, Fay, Graves, Kuehn, Lay, Seawright)
1989 New Jersey Center for the Visual Arts, Summit, NJ, "Material Forms"
1989 The Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ. "1989 Visual Arts Fellowship Exhibition"
1984 Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ; "Structures: 13 New Jersey Artists" (Anuszkiewicz, Bannard, Blair, Craft, Harms, Lay, Pietrucha, Rafoss, Rosen, Savage, Sisco, Teller, Walkingstick)
1984 The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, NJ; "New Jersey Arts Inclusion Program 1978-84"
1983 Hunterdon Art Center, NJ; "Directors Choice"
1981 A.I.R. Gallery, NYC, "Women Artists"
1981 Douglass College, Rutgers University, NJ, "Retropective Show. Women Artists Series"
1979 New Jersey State Museum; "1979 Biennial"
1978 Graduate Center, City University of NY, NYC, "Women's Caucus For Art Juried Show"
1978 New Jersey State Museum, "Sculptures and Constructions From the Twentieth Century '
1977 Newark Museum, NJ, "1977 Biennial of New Jersey Artists"
1975 Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC, "1975 Biennial of Contemporary American Art"
1974 The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, CT, "Contemporary Reflections
1968 Everson Museum, Syracuse, NY, "25th Ceramic National" (Juried National)
PUBLIC COMMISSIONS:
1997 Montclair State University, Fine Arts Building, exterior ceramic tile mural
1996 Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter, Oslo, Norway; an environmental, site-specific sculpture for the Henie-Onstad sculpture park
1985 Montclair State University, College Hall, the Class Gift, Class of 1984
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS:
Montclair Art Museum
Jingdezhen Sanbao Art Institute, Jingdezhen, P.R.China
Novohradska Gallery, Lucenec, Slovakia
Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter, Oslo, Norway; a site-specific sculpture
Rutgers University, Aidekman Center, Newark, NJ, (3 sculptures, 1991)
Montclair State University (two public commissions)
I.B.M., Gainesville, VA.
New Jersey State Museum, (2 sculptures: museum purchase, and 1 sculpture: the L.B.Wescott Collection)
Rochester Institute of Technology
SCULPTURE INCLUDED IN A MOVIE:
2006 Just My Luck, a major movie by Lady Luck Productions, Inc., starring Lindsay Lohan, release date May, 2006
ACADEMIC POSITIONS:
1972 – present
Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ; Professor, Department of Art and Design, Founding Director of MFA Program 1999-2001
LECTURE PRESENTATIONS:
2004 Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, Jingdezhen, P.R. China
2002 Institute of Fine Arts, Modinagar, Utta Pradesh, India
2002 The Birla Academy of Art and Culture in Kolcata., India
2002 Central Academy of Art and Design at Tsinghua University, Beijing
2002 East China Normal University, Shanghai, PR China
1998 Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, NJ
PANEL:
1997 The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, “Lives and Works: Conversations with Artists”, Joan Snyder, Jackie Winsor, Miriam Schapiro, Ce Roser, Cathy Billian, Pat Lay, Nancy Azara, Charlotte Robinson, Mimi Smith
JUROR:
1986 New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Sculpture Grants for 1987
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Books:
2009 Peterson, Susan; WORKING IN CLAY; 3rd Edition, Overlook/Viking Press, NY, (photos of my work)
2006 Yushan,Zhang; WORLD CONTEMPORARY PUBLIC CERAMIC ART; Hunan Fine Arts Press, P.R. China. Photos of my work, 130 international artists included.
2004 Peterson, Susan; Jan Peterson, THE CRAFT AND ART OF CLAY; 4th Edition, Prentice Hall, NJ (photos of my work)
2002 Bai Ming, Fine Arts College of Tsinghua University, Beijing, P.R. China, Overseas Contemporary Ceramic Art Classics, by Bai Ming, Forward by Susan Peterson, Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House of China, a book of International contemporary artists, one of 86 featured artists from 20 countries.
2002 Peterson, Susan; WORKING IN CLAY; 2nd Edition, Overlook/Viking Press, NY, (photos of my work)
1999 Peterson, Susan; THE CRAFT AND ART OF CLAY; 3rd edition, Prentice Hall, NJ (photos of my work)
1999 Arbeiter, Joan; Smith, Beryl; Swenson, Sally; LIVES AND WORKS, TALKS WITH WOMEN ARTISTS; Volume II, Paperback, Scarecrow Press (one of 14 chapters, each is an interview with a woman artist: Miriam Schapiro, Jackie Winsor, Joan Snyder, and others.)
1998 Peterson, Susan; WORKING IN CLAY, Prentice Hall, NJ (photos of my work)
1996 Arbeiter, Joan; Smith, Beryl; Swenson, Sally; LIVES AND WORKS, TALKS WITH WOMEN ARTISTS; Volume II, Scarecrow Press (Patricia Lay, Joan Snyder, Kay Walkingstick, Jackie Winsor, Miriam Schapiro, and others)
1995 Peterson, Susan; THE CRAFT AND ART OF CLAY; 2nd edition, 1st edition1992; Prentice Hall, NJ (photos of my work)
1986 Nigrosh, Leon; CLAYWORK; Davis Publication, Mass.; 1975 (1st Edition); 1986 (2nd Edition) (Photos of my work)
1980 Nigrosh, Leon; LOW FIRE: OTHER WAYS TO WORK IN CLAY; Davis Publication, Mass. (photos of my work)
Selected Reviews and Articles:
2002 William Zimmer; The New York Times, January 27
2002 Prescott Tolk, The Jersey City Reporter, January 20
1997 Art in America, April issue, Sculpture Portfolio section, full page color
1996 Ceramics Monthly, May issue, New York Clay by Judith Schwartz, photo
1996 Cotter, Holland; The New York Times; Weekend; July 12 (Photo)
1996 Skouen, Tina; Arbeiderbladet, Oslo, Norway; July 19 (Photo)
1996 Törngren, Av Ylva; Budstikka, Oslo, Norway, July 20 (Photo)
1992 Watkins, Eileen; Star-Ledger, Sunday, March 8
1992 Raynor, Vivian; The New York Times, Sunday,NJ, March 15
1991 Watkins, Eileen; Star-Ledger,
1991 Point, George; Gold Coast, Hoboken,NJ, Jan.3
1991 Point, George; Jersey Journal, JC,NJ, Jan.4
1990 Watkins, Eileen; Star-Ledger, Aug.3
1989 Raynor, Vivian; The New York Times, Sunday,Sept.3
1989 Raynor, Vivian; The New York Times, Sunday Oct.1
1987 Fitzgibbons, Mary; The Jersey Journal, Feb.13
1984 Watkins, Eileen; Star-Ledger, March
1984 Zimmer, William; The New York Times, Sunday,March 18
1984 Raynor, Vivian; The New York Times, Sunday, Feb.5
1983 Watkins, Eileen; Star-Ledger, August 28
1981 Raynor, Vivian; The New York Times, Sunday, Feb.8
1979 Schjeldahl, Peter; The New York Times, Sunday, Nov,25
1978 Women Art Magazine, Spring
1978 Lubell, Ellen; The Soho Weekly News, Feb.9
1976 Shirey, David; The New York Times, Sunday, Dec.19