BPACE Blog
From the Baldwin PArk Highlander:
When Stan Klausner works with clay, his mind drifts into a dream state and the end result is a display of the different influences he touches on for inspiration.
"It's very Zen-like in how I approach (starting a piece)," said the 63-year-old of his art pieces.
Klausner opened his first solo exhibit, "Celadon Dreams: Traditional Ceramic Forms Revisited," on Saturday, Oct. 15, in the Fo Guang Yuan Hsi Lai Art Gallery at the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights.
Celadon is the glaze he uses for his artwork.
Different cultures, as well as different living things, are featured in Klausner's more than 100 pieces on display.
"I'm mixing a lot of different cultures - Celtic, Asian, Indian, German ...," he said.
Klausner attends the Baldwin Park Adult and Community Education Older Adult Ceramic class and lives in Pomona, but his journey here started in the east.
Growing up in the Bronx comunity of New York, Klausner said he always had an interest in art. But it wasn't until his senior year in college that he discovered his passion.
"I was earning my bachelor's in math and I took a ceramic class as an elective," he said.
The class opened him up to the world of ceramics, Klausner knew he "didn't want to be a starving artist."
He taught high school math for a few years and worked on ceramics on the side. In 1973, with some funds stashed away, he headed west and in 1976 earned his master's degree in ceramics from Cal State Fullerton.
Almost tapped out financially, Klausner went back to teaching math at Santa Ana High School. But he couldn't completely abandon ceramics.
"I convinced the principal (at Santa Ana High) to start a ceramics program, and we did," said Klausner.
In 1980, he moved from teaching to aerospace engineering and worked on various projects, including one at Northrop Grumman.
While he found math and aerospace satisfying and challenging, Klausner missed his art. He began taking classes and working on different art mediums but still kept coming back to his passion.
"I missed clay," he said.
After retiring, Klausner began creating his various pieces, many featured in the art exhibit. Some of the pieces on display were created during the seven years he was back in New York to care for his mother.
Upon returning to California, Klausner found Baldwin Park Adult and Community Education's art classes.
"They allowed me to work here and it allowed me to see if I can still do it," said Klausner of the school. "It took me about a year to say, `OK, I'm starting to remember how to do this."'
Klausner admits there were mishaps while creating pieces but he said he just had to keep working at it.
"When I work, I keep asking, `Does it look right to my mind's eye'," he said. "Some pieces have a dream-like quality. I come with a starting place, maybe one image and go from there."
The shape of the cylinder determines what images will fit well on each, he added.
He draws inspiration from various things, including art history.
"I go to the library and look at a lot of pictures, sometimes I get ideas from a vinegar bottle," said Klausner. "I went to school to learn the visual (part of art) but it's a very inward journey, very personal."
Another big inspiration for Klausner is ritual vessels.
"They have very strong visual images that are meant to impress," he said. "It doesn't matter the religion they're all there to visually grab you."
His art pieces are made of porcelain and stoneware and while some are made with a pottery wheel, most are hand-built.
"I prefer hand building because you get a more human feel (to the pieces)," said Klausner. "Most of the forms (pieces) are asymmetrical, bringing life to the pot."
Klausner created his own plaster mold for his plate pieces. He also has fun using dental tools to create the carvings on the ceramic.
"I tend to make things complex, adding layers upon layers. You can't grasp everything all at once."
The images on his ceramic pieces are like paintings and "a reflection of how I felt at that moment," Klausner explained.
Although he has been involved in other art showings, this is the first solo exhibit and the first since his "reincarnation."
"This is about six to seven years of work that I've been saving," said Klausner.
His first visit to the Hsi Lai Temple and the gallery was to see the work of a Baldwin Park classmate. Klausner fell in love with the space and sought to bring an exhibit there.
"When I saw this place I thought this would be perfect," he said. "I love the way my pieces fit in here. (Putting together the exhibit) is kind of an overwhelming process but I'm happy."
Klausner's work will be featured amongst the gallery's collection of Buddhist artifacts from around the world, Chinese art and works from other local artists.
"It's beautiful, very different. You can see (the Asian influence in his work)," said Venerable Miao Hsi, director of the International Buddhist Progress Society. "We're really happy to have such diversity. Art is universal, it transcends."
Klausner decided to number each piece instead of naming them to allow visitors to interpret them their own way.
"I want people to come with an open mind and let them experience (the pieces) and interact with them," said Klausner. "It should be different for each person and they're right. I want them to come back two weeks later and see something different."
The pieces displayed at the beginning of the exhibit show the first ones Klausner worked on when getting back into working with clay, while the final piece "represents how I work - kind of like a dance between me and the clay and gravity," said Klausner.
The exhibit will run through Jan. 9. The temple is at 6456 S. Glenmark Dr., Hacienda Heights. Gallery hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
For more information, call 626-961-9697 or visit www.hsilai.org. For more information about the Baldwin Park Adult and Community Education, visit www.bpace.k12.ca.us.
626-962-8811, Ext. 2110
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