Eclectic earthenware

At Skidmore's Schick Art Gallery (in the Saisselin Art Center) until Dec. 8, Eclectic Earth was curated by Skidmore faculty ceramist Matthew Wilt, to expose students and visitors to a wide range of techniques and aesthetic visions in ceramic art.

Thaddeus Erdahl's busts are sometimes droll, sometimes haggard portraits of soldiers and generals. Linda Cordell says her detailed porcelain animals reinterpret the figurine to "break the chains of cuteness." Steven Montgomery's large Static Fuel 4 looks like an intricate, functioning engine but is entirely ceramic. Gail Heidel has made subtle interventions to architectural elements—for example, adding ceramic links to campus railings—while Raymon Elozua's R & D II starts with digital exploration of colored shapes in Abstract Expressionist paintings and then incorporates other media including blown glass. Eight other artists have contributed to the show in just as creative, diverse ways, presenting thought-provoking works from the practical to the fantastic.

The show is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday–Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, and noon to 4 p.m. weekends; closed during academic holidays.