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Steve Hash 

Steve spent the first few years of his life traveling across America with a group of people looking for an escape from the culture of the early 80’s. This search, which began on the west coast, materialized into an idealistic utopian commune of about ten or more families in the deep woods of Mississippi. Growing up living in tents and makeshift canopies of tarps and scraped lumber that later became small cabins, Steve Hash was raised on the philosophy of making something out of nothing.

Largely isolated from the outside world his only creative influences were his fathers’ rock n roll records and the woods that surrounded him. Steve Hash’s early years were consumed with building forts and attempting to create small worlds in which he could escape. This theme of childlike escapism is echoed throughout his later artistic endeavors.  After entering back into society in his teens, Steve Hash was attracted to the similarities of the punk music scene and his own fringe upbringing and subsequently spent several years traveling the country and playing in various bands.
Steve Hash earned his BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2005. In his junior year he started his own design company working primarily in the music industry and has since worked with such bands as Metallica, Interpol, The Used, and many others. Steve Hash is currently living in Portland, OR and although he makes his livelihood in graphic design he continues to create fine art in various forms such as sculpture, video installation and painting. Although there may be a stylistic connection in his work he continues to experiment with a host of mediums. For Steve Hash creating art is about the adventure and the exploration.
stevehash.com

Allan Inman

Life is about transition. It transitions from young to old, life to death, childhood to adulthood. As I grow older, I have begun to recognize these transitions and how¬ to reconcile them. My work addresses the inevitability of these transitions like growing older and the obstacles I face as I come to grips with my own mortality.  I often use imagery that is related to travel, movement and locomotion. This imagery is a metaphor relating to the “journey of life.”  The decisions I make now will affect the rest of my life. Which route I should take in order to have a productive life? Where should I go? What should I do? This body of work questions the purpose of my life and where I go from here. It brings elements from my childhood to the present while also looking forward to the future.
allaninnman.com

Scott Rench

My work represents the next generation of ceramic artists, who fuse today's technology with one of the oldest traditions in art. To some the computer is completely foreign while others have grown up in front of one. This familiarity will lead to the creation of new modes of expression in the ceramic arts.

During the day I work as an Art Director at a Chicago advertising agency. I use the computer to create a myriad of advertising elements. While at work I am exposed to programs and media that have direct applications for our clients. In the back of my mind I am wondering how can I apply this to my artwork. Upon returning home it is not long before I am situated in front of the computer again.

While I try to keep the two separate my ad work and my artwork influence each other. You will often see computer related imagery as it's part of my daily life and in some cases a part of our contemporary vernacular.

I use the computer in my artwork to illustrate, manipulate, and compose the elements for each piece.  It allows me to create several versions of a concept while refining it along the way until there is a version that successfully conveys my vision. Over the years my work has become increasingly narrative with the subjects drawing from my personal life.

Once the concept is complete I send my computer files out for film positives. I use the film separations to create silkscreens used in transferring the images onto large sheets of wet clay. The process can takes several hours and is rather delicate as the clay is quite soft and records every push and pull. One accidental slip can ruin a piece. My printing medium is glaze and not ink which presents all sorts of challenges and contributes to the lengthy process.

I like to work wet on wet as it gives me freedom. I can emboss a cardboard trompe l'oeil affect on the surface of the clay fooling people into thinking its cardboard and not clay. Once the printing is complete I often give additional volume to the work so it pops off a wall when it is hung in place.

I like to make work that makes people think, being that much of my work deals with personal things in my life I often use a complex laying of semiotics to convey the meaning. The basic idea sits on the surface and with successive levels buried in symbolism. I give clues to the viewer and let them unravel the mystery.

Most if not all my pieces deal with themes that are common to the human experience and because of that people can relate to the message. I think the role of art is to convey or evoke emotion and I hope all of my work succeeds on this level.

In addition to the common experience each viewer brings their personal experiences to each piece of art. I am often pleasantly surprised by what others get from the meaning of the work. Through others I have seen things in the meaning of my work that had been transparent. Work rather intuitively and sometimes the meaning of things reveal themselves to me long after the work is completed.
yohoh.com

Mary Robinson 

Mary lives in Columbia, South Carolina, where she draws, paints, prints and creates installations. She is an Assistant Professor and Head of Printmaking at the University of South Carolina. She has had nine solo exhibitions in the United States, and has participated in many group exhibitions throughout the world. Emission, the international print exchange and traveling exhibition that she initiated and coordinated in 2005, is currently part of the Penang International Print Exhibition at the Penang State Art Gallery in Malaysia