Biography
Kimberlee Joy Roth graduated from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities with an MFA in Ceramics and an Art History minor in 2007. She is a 2013 McKnight Artist Fellow in Ceramics and a Fiscal Year 2016 and 2011 recipient of an Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. Sections from her 2016 solo exhibition What We Have To Lose, at the Christensen Center Art Gallery at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, MN, will be on permanent loan at The Owatonna Arts Center, Owatonna, MN and the MacRostie Art Center, Grand Rapids, MN. Her fall 2012 solo exhibition at St. Catherine University's Catherine G. Murphy Gallery in St. Paul, MN raised $1,143 for The Algalita Marine Research Institute in Long Beach, California. Her ceramic work is in the permanent collection of the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis, MN, the Lincoln Arts and Culture Foundation in Lincoln, California and has been shown nationally in juried ceramic exhibitions. She maintains a studio in the Northeast Arts District of Minneapolis, is co-president of Minnesota Women Ceramics Artists, was the Technician for the Art and Art History Department and The Catherine G. Murphy Gallery at St. Catherine University from 2007–'19 and is currently the Ceramics Technician at the University of Minnesota–TC.
Upcoming Events
First Thursday Open Studios at the Northrup King Building
Join me in my Studio, #431, for First Thursdays: November 7 and December 5, 2019 from 5–9 pm
Art Attack 2019 at the Northrup King Building
November 1, 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.
November 2, Noon – 8 p.m., I will be there until 4 p.m.
November 3, Noon – 5 p.m.
Raymond Avenue Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, Sixth Annual Yunomi Invitational, November 8 – December 20, 2019
Opening Reception: Friday, November 8, 6 – 8 p.m.
Process
Due to my mathematical background, it is mentally and artistically stimulating for me to abstract natural forms toward a geometric symmetry. The technical steps to developing a form start with studying an object such as a flower and creating from its contours a first–draft outline for the outer edge of a bowl or plate. The refined outline, drawn 20% larger then the desired final piece, is transferred onto a two–inch high piece of Styrofoam and cut out. The piece’s rim, inside containment areas, sides and foot are hand carved. I take into account the limitations of my slip body while carving, considerations for slumping, size limitations for height to length ratios and other structural necessities inform the finished sculptural shape. The completed carved Styrofoam form becomes the positive from which a master slip cast mold is created. Each mold produces 60 to 80 pieces, then I either retire the form or make a new plaster mold. To create the ceramic pieces, porcelain slip is poured into the mold, left for ten minutes then the unused slip is poured out. I fire the finished forms in an electric kiln to cone 9, 2262° Fahrenheit. My porcelain slip and glazes are formulated and mixed in my studio. I formulate all of my glazes to create a color palette of satin matte and shiny glazes that feel and look sensual.
