Studio Update

So my large piece is almost done. Its said that potters love seeing their work in the leather stage and that rings true right now. Detail work still needs to be done and then it needs to slow dry for about a week. There are also more large pots in the works, but are currently in lots of different pieces. Update soon. google image uploader is acting up so i will try to post on the website soon with images of the current piece.

Website is almost ready to go live!

So oicataceramics.com is almost ready to go public and I'm getting exited about the day I can post my url on all the places I can find to post it on. Go ahead, give it a click and see what its looking like. At this point in time I'm just looking for content to upload, but that takes some time to make it ready for the web.

Postcards

I have been working on these post cards for a little bit now and I finally have a something to show for it. These designs are based around creating a brand and a recognizable image. Since these are postcards I don’t plan on having super complicated layouts that vary from card to card,  simplicity is the name of the game. In the area of ceramicists postcards, there exists a precedent that we put a picture of a piece in the front and show information in the back, my designs use one customizable format for the back and variaous simple designs in front to showcase the work. I added my brand to the front image in order to begin creating a sense of unity among all the postcards that will be made in the future, as well as any other published material or images of mine.

Gettin' some headers

Time to post the headers. I guess you already know which one I like the most.

typography sources

In stumbling through the internet I have seen thousands and thousands of examples of different styles of typography. Below are my selections for the most awesome ones that I have ran across.

this one is cool, its an animation made up of logos and brands and used to create a setting and a story. it has hundreds of typographic examples within it, plus it has an awesome story too, with guns and explosions.

Logorama

this one is a flash animation, I chose it because it's funny.

Dot dot dot

lastly I have this example, Its the hardest to read sometimes but it commands so much attention from the viewer that often times reading it is the last thing you try to decipher from what you're looking at.

goals

My audience is everyone. I have no specific target market in mind because I create work that is intended to stand alone but can also be in a grouping. As a ceramicist working in between mass production and hand-made, my work is for anyone who finds it interesting. I make hand thrown ceramic objects, mostly lidded jars, and the pottery I create is a commentary on prevention of loss and harmonizing of the past and present. The work is split between two aesthetics, mid 20th century styles of ceramic surface decoration and modern architectural references, which are pushed together into one piece and one body. It takes from historical sources as well as current trends to create one single body. The work I make is based on evolution, so it is read as a timeline rather than a category list. The work is all related to itself in the sense that the current work is slightly different from the previous work. The format and meaning can change at any time, and that’s what makes working with clay so much fun. My goals as an emerging artist are:

• Receive my bachelors degree and graduate college
• Become established in my hometown of Miami
• Marry my beautiful fiancée
• Gain gallery representation
• Ultimately I would love to start my own ceramic studio (grow from
a personal operation to a public studio)

Artist St

As a ceramicist focusing on the potter’s wheel, my work has the ability to serve as functional objects as well as decorative. Working with clay allows the work to achieve the look and aesthetic that it presents itself as. It speaks of two different time periods in art history and brings them together into a body of work. The pieces display sharp and smooth sections that reference the industrial look with clean, and defined areas. Combined within the work is the look of an older more organic surface achieved using traditional methods of working the material such as faceting and carving away at the clay surface. My forms are simple lidded Jars. The top and bottom sections reference industrial aesthetics similar to metal tubing and cylindrical engine parts (spark plugs, pullies, etc.) to create the sharpness of the forms. In between the top and bottom sections sit the bulged bodies of the pots which can be textured or smoothed. These processes allow me the flexibility and freedom to work the clay in its wet state while continuing to form it as it spins on the wheel, it is one of the simplest ways to shape and finish the work I’m producing. My current work began with a single, seemingly insignificant jar that I made with some clay I had left over one day. It was loose and simple in its form and it was something I didn’t care too much about, so I did what anybody would do, I sliced into it and altered it from its original form and added a lid. The body of work takes a large amount of influence from well established ceramicists like Steve Montgomery and Brandon Lee Satish Tang whose works bring together two different aesthetics to create a harmonious balance in their art. Aside from the artists, I take in inspiration from daily life experiences I love to sit and draw buildings and mechanical items then I erase parts of it and build my own picture from what is left on the paper. My work is constantly evolving from one extreme to the other, up until now it was heavy to one side. Currently I believe that my work is at a good middle of that scale and will eventually fall back to one side. It’s the explorative aspect of the work that I love the most and it’s the reason that clay is my medium of choice.

About Me

My name is David Oicata. I am a ceramic artist living and working in Kansas City and Miami. I am a student at the Kansas City Art Institute finishing up my BFA. My origins are in South America, Venezuela. In 1995 my family immigrated to the United States and settled in Miami, Florida. I survived the public school system with my sanity intact. I have chosen to pursue my ambitions as an artist by completing my bachelor of fine arts and being the first from my family to graduate from an American college. Currently I am two semesters from achieving that goal. After graduation my plans are to build a career from the ground up, become a studio artist and gain the experience that will allow me to propel myself into the vicious art world.