Linda Gelfman: My Life in Clay

On April 27, I was able to attend the reception for Linda Gelfman’s show— My Life in Clay: Four Decades in the Making— at Alpha Fired Arts. Linda was my ceramics Professor while I attended American River College between 2016 and 2020. Linda, as stated in the title of her show, has been working with clay for years. She is a great instructor, and truly brought me out of my comfort zone in order to become more masterful with clay. I will never forget the skills I learned from her, my favorite being how to get the details right when sculpting fingers and toes! Linda’s work is vast and surreal. In her show, the works begins at the earliest stage of her career—high school ceramics—and on view are two little pigs that she sculpted as a pre-college student.

The work slowly evolves into the work of a true artist. Whimsical figures, the essence of nature, and sometimes cats are featured in her pieces. She uses a variety of techniques in her hand-built sculptures, showing off different textures and colors. Some times her figures are created out of forms that have been thrown on the wheel, and useful tool for sculpting more quickly and flexing pottery knowledge.

I was drawn to Heart and Root Chakra sculptures, which emulated figure, vessel, and spirit. Each chakra piece has a small base but manages to stand up quite tall. The heart chakra features a green bloom in the chest, while the root chakra appears to be spiriting from a bloom. They provide a sense of calm and attachment to the earth, and inspire my to build larger sculptures in my future work. All in all is was a wonderful show from an incredible artist, mentor, and inspiration of mine. The show runs until June 1st, so be sure to check it out, especially if you need to pick up some ceramic supplies from Alpha Fired Arts.