Summer Residency Session V, July 31-August 12, 2016, has been organized by Lauren Herzak-Bauman. Here she shares her process for choosing the session theme and plans she has for the 2 weeks at Watershed. A limited number of spaces are still available in this session. Register here or apply for a scholarship to attend.
Several years ago, a good friend of mine, Casey McDonough, invited me to join the Romantic Robots, a collective of artists connected by the common threads found amongst their work in clay. In 2012, the Romantic Robots attended a residency together, with the intention to collaborate on studio projects and plan an exhibition. We learned that we not only enjoyed each other’s work but we also enjoyed working together. One evening, over tacos, after a mini storm and a double rainbow, we found ourselves scribbling out charts and patterns for a small sculpture exchange and group exhibition. This small seed of an idea sprouted an ambitious collaborative show that included over 200 small-scale ceramic sculptures.
Pieces by The Romantic Robots
Ceramics as a medium encourages collaboration. Firing a wood kiln is a perfect example of the collaborative physical labor and mental power needed to get a good result. But how does one collaborate within their work, something that can seem like such an individual endeavor? What happens when we make the communal nature of the process the focus of the work? And what happens once the collaboration is over? These questions inspired me to organize a Watershed residency and explore the impetus to collaborate.
I attended a residency at Watershed once before in 2003. It was the summer before my last year in undergraduate school and I found myself questioning my next steps. Watershed provided me with a beautiful and safe space in which to work out ideas and clarify my goals. Thirteen years later, I’m thrilled to return to Watershed and lead a residency focused on collaboration. The Romantic Robots will also reunite at the residency and we are looking forward to sharing ideas with other artists and seeing where the two weeks takes us.
Field by Lauren Herzak-Bauman
I encourage session participants to come with an open mind and explore how their personal practice changes through collaboration. In advance of the residency, I will send out materials and readings to better prepare for the session. I will come armed with books, more readings, discussion topics, and studio plans to help us work collaboratively. I look forward to seeing how our processes merge and how each artist’s work develops over the two weeks together.
Any artist is welcome to join Session V. Click here to register for the session or apply for a scholarship.