The years of hard work and perseverance are about to pay off for Kelly Cardnell.
The ceramics major will graduate Dec. 14, but before she leaves Ohio State she has something to share with her fellow students.
Cardnell is displaying her unusual brand of pulp pottery today in the Exposures Gallery on the Ohio Union’s second floor.
“All through art school you make things to fill the teacher’s requirements,” Cardnell said. “I finally have a chance to do something I want to make.”
The show features ceramic pieces created specifically for wall display.
“I really like the idea of having ceramics on the wall,” Cardnell said. “I also wanted to incorporate everything I love – music, pop culture and fashion.”
One of Cardnell’s main wall displays is a series of white plates, which she collected from thrift stores and garage sales that have been decorated with decals depicting fashion trends, people, song lyrics and news clippings.
The method used to affix the decals to the plates give the images a pulp-comic look.
“They’re not your traditional thrown pieces,” said Cardnell’s thesis advisor, Rebecca Harvey. “It’s a bit more conceptual.”
Cardnell came up with the plate-image theme specifically for the show. While there are other wall pieces on display, the main attraction is the pop culture plates.
“I wanted to show uses for pottery beyond plates and mugs,” Cardnell said.
Cardnell’s show also features larger wall pieces that incorporate more color and texture, but keep the circle theme alive.
“She has always been interested in the theme of circles,” Harvey said.
Cardnell plans to move to Southern California after graduation and is entertaining thoughts of attending graduate school to work on her Masters in Education.
“I originally wanted to go into art education, but I was rejected twice so that didn’t work out,” Cardnell said.
Cardnell’s senior thesis project will be on display in the Exposures Gallery on the second floor of the Ohio Union all day today.
A formal reception of the work will be today between 8 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., where music will be incorporated into the display, as well as booklets explaining each piece and the inspiration behind it.
