Carley Holzem is a Junior from Mosinee, WI and majoring in studio art with a concentration in ceramics at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
What sparked your interest in art and/or design?
I’ve always been interested in art but in high school I got really into it. My high school art teacher, Katie Marotz, graduated from Stout with a fine art degree in ceramics and art education. She introduced me to throwing, painting, sculpting and drawing, and taught me how to create anything I wanted. I chose Stout because she spoke highly of it and it has a great reputation in every area of art.
What are your favorite styles or mediums to work with?
I love working with porcelain when it comes to functional ware because of its beautiful white, delicate nature and its origin story within Chinese and Japanese culture. Functional ware has a range of purposes people can choose from, whether that be for decoration or drinking your morning coffee. There’s potential for an intimate relationship between the pot and the user. During the Neolithic time period, people would make footed forms to heat food or water on top of a fire. Often, they intentionally made them look like animals. I like to place three feet on my pots so they kind of resemble an animal.
Do you have any advice for the aspiring artist?
My best advice for aspiring artists is to just start making things. It doesn’t matter what you make, just do it and see where it goes. Look at the art you love and try to understand why you love it and why the artist created it. Use this knowledge to develop your own intention that can drive you to create.
What is the process like for your printmaking pieces?
I am intrigued by printmaking because the process allows me to explore many mark making techniques. “Aunty Penny fleeting insanity” is about my aunt who was committed to a high security mental institution in her thirties. She ended up committing suicide within the institution. I wanted to give her life a spotlight because now she is only a story my family speaks of. I used a reductive technique where I placed a drawing on one side of plexiglass. I then rolled out a color of ink on the other side and wiped away the spots I didn’t want. I then ran it through the press with a piece of paper on top, transferring the ink to the paper. I used three different transparent colors on top of one another which made other colors when combined. “Lady with the dog” is made with the same technique.