Various pots, vases and baskets hang on the wall on clear pedestals in the brightly lit Art Gallery.
This was more than just an art show; it was an ode to Neil Moss, a ceramics professor who died due to a brain aneurysm earlier this year.
Eighteen artists, including Moss, have worked on displaying “The Wheel Keeps Turning,”an art exhibit at the Art Gallery until Nov. 5. The other 17 artists were either former students or colleagues who were influenced by Moss.
“The Wheel Keeps Turning” came from Russell McMillin, associate art professor, who was thinking about the wheel that turns during the process of pottery making but also the wheel of life that keeps turning although someone died.
“He just loved teaching and he loved claying,” Hal Frenzel, long-time friend and former student of Moss, said about the former professor. “It was his heart and it was his life. He was a dedicated teacher and a dedicated potter. He loved clay and his life was surrounded by clay. It was a part of who he was.”
Moss’ work of pottery was simple and earthy, yet elegant. His work reflected who he was after all the years of rigorously working. His ash-glazed baskets with curved handles, rusty garden pots, vases with bamboo joints, elegantly-decorated platters, tea bowls and abstract sculptural forms are elegant, elemental, and poetic, Moss’ daughter Nikki said.
“I just love his lids. His lids are so fascinating because they are so nonchalant,” Evan Sisson, former assistant of Moss and current ceramic lab technician said. “At that top edge of the lid, you can almost see his finger pushing the clay down and never going back and touching it again.”
Moss was one of the hardest working professors and a kind man who also was respected by many Juan Carlos Ornelas, former student of Moss said.
“I think Mr. Moss might have been happier to see all these people,” Keiko Tamura, art major and former student of Moss, said.
“Even though he passed away, it feels like his soul is still here.”