Reanimate · Steve Gorman

Reanimate · Steve Gorman is an exhibition of contemporary works in clay. “My nature is an otherworldly nature, close to ours, but not specifically of it either; a hybridized and animated nature, beyond normalcy,” states Steve Gorman.

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Gorman, a Kansas City-based clay artist, utilizes white earthenware and ceramic stain to sculpt works which reference plant life, animal and human forms, and even elements of fashion. In doing so, he reveals his obsession with nature, rendering it in fantastic forms and hyper colors. He re-structures the natural world, creating pieces which allude to genetic engineering and hybridization. Encased within glass vitrines, the works also evoke natural history museum specimens.

Informed by the Surrealist and Modernist movements in art, Gorman’s works also share an affinity with early film animation. And, like cartoons, his exaggerated figures can evoke humor… or apprehension. His forms are equally fanciful and grotesque or sensuous and sinister. “I strive to enhance the illusion of animation to lend a heightened physical presence to my work,” says Gorman.

Recently retired from a 25-year teaching career with the North Kansas City and Centerview school districts, Gorman received his BA and MA from the University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, studying additionally at the Philadelphia University of the Arts. His works are included in the collections of the Waterloo Museum of Art, Waterloo, Iowa; University Art Museum, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; and the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art.

Reanimate ∙ Steve Gorman is the artist’s first solo museum exhibition.