History and Cirruculum Vitae
In 1996, Sally Resnik Rockriver believed there were other planets with chemicals, physics, and heat similar to those in her studio. In 2005, she entitled her geological blown glass: "New Planets". This body of work utilized planetary geochemistry and physics to create worlds that she thought could be in the Universe. In 2013, NASA announced the discovery of the Planet HD 189733b "Azure", which recirculates molten sand and glass. Rockriver's current work features the Planet Azure and its glass storms. In her pieces, sprays of glass cool into a crystalline webbing. Gases erupt from molten pools and grow into enormous domes that trap colored fumes. The final works are "Frozen Moments" of a geochemical event.
"It is not clear if Ms. Rockriver is the next Dale Chihuly, an unusually festive heir to Eva Hess, or an artistically inclined scientist, but she is definitely something." Roberta Smith, NEW YORK TIMES, Art in Review
FOUNDER OF A MOVEMENT
By the turn of the century, Rockriver's work was considered too experimental and not technically sound. However, her processes were actually carefully crafted techniques that created specific geological results. Few artists or collectors had seen the combination of glass and ceramics. Her main sympathizers were the minds of Contemporary Art. During her 2002 solo exhibition in New York, she was hailed by Roberta Smith in the New York Times, as "some kind of contender". By 2004, her combination of glass and ceramics was recognized by the ceramics world in the Ceramics Monthly cover article. It took a decade for Rockriver's work to be valued by the glass audience. In 2010, Jessamy Kelly received her wrote her PhD dissertation on the combination of glass and ceramics. She researched the glass artists of the world, and found only a handful that were pertinent to the study. Upon final evaluation, Rockriver had the earliest work that combined glass and ceramics at high temperatures. In 2012, at the Ox-bow School of Art, Rockriver taught an intensive course entitled Beyond the Limits which required students to approach the medium without inhibition by 2013, Rockriver had influenced a generation of young artists who embraced experimental glass processes as art.
NOTE FROM THE ARTIST
My imagination is most greatly ignited after I can spend time with the finished works. The dialogue I have with these projects has expanded into an imaginary world that seems very real to me. The way I view this world has become a narrative framework that guides me into deeper cross-pollination of concepts and materials. Once I discover a new geological species, I reevaluate how I look at the entire collection of works. Portfoios are not arranged by date, instead they are categorized according to how they fit into the world I have been exploring over a lifetime.
DEGREES
1996 MFA Ceramics and Combined Medias, Hunter College, NYC
1992 BFA with Honors, Ceramics and Painting, UNC- Chapel Hill, NC
Born Chapel Hill, NC
Lives and works in Chatham County, NC
DEGREES
1996 MFA Ceramics and Combined Medias, Hunter College, NYC
1992 BFA with Honors, Ceramics and Painting, UNC- Chapel Hill, NC
SELECTEDED EXHIBITIONS
2017 Gallery C, Planet Candyland, Raleigh, NC
2015 Unmapped, Gateway Arts Center, Brentwood, MD
Transformed Viewpoints, A.I.R. Gallery. Brooklyn, NY
2014-5 Refreshed, National Traveling Exhibition of Selected A.I.R. Gallery Artists
Liminal Communities, curated by Lucy Li. A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2013 Solo Exhibiton, Unfound: Glass Rains of Azure, Gallery C
National Liberty Museum Invitational Auction, Philadelphia,PA
Emerge Art Fair, Represented by Gallery C, Washington,DC
Ox-bow School of Art Invitational Auction, Sagautuk, MI
2010 Sally Resnik Rockriver, Mothers of Abstraction, Gallery C, Raleigh NC
2009 Solo Exhibiton , The Joyfull Jewel, Pittsboro, NC
Winter Invitational, Greenhill Center for the Arts, Greensboro, NC
Small Works Invitational, Elon College Gallery, Elon, NC
2008 Regrowth, Greenhill Center for NC Arts, Greensboro, NC
Small Works Invitational, Elon College Gallery, Elon, NC
2007 Planetary Formations, Studio Exhibit, Resnik Thermal Lab, NC
2006 New Planets, Studio Exhibit, Resnik Thermal Lab, NC
2004 Thermal Formations, Studio Exhibit, Resnik Thermal Lab, NC
2003 Completed By Nature, Gallery The, Brooklyn NY
2002 Solo Exhibition, Geochemical Formations, Rome Arts, Brooklyn, NY
Gender Play, Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn, NY
The Synthesis Project, UNC Chapel Hill Art Department Gallery
Frozen Moments, Studio Exhibit, Resnik Thermal Lab, NC
2000 Geochemical Prizes, Virtual Circus, Revolving Museum, Boston
Geochemical Artifacts, Sandbox Bang, Galapagos, Brooklyn, NY
1999 Thermal Discoveries, Solo Exhibiton, Braddigins Art Gallery, Hillsboro, NC
Take Back the Streets, ABC No Rio, NYC
Let's Make it Dirty, 42nd Street, NYC
1998 Durham Arts Council Juried Exhibition, Durham, NC
NC Arts Gallery, Carrboro, NC
Process, Baby Jupiter, NYC
1997 Future Visions, Velvet, NYC
1996 Zine World, New Museum of Contemporary Art, NYC
Sandbox Performers: Fate and Chance, Flamingo East, NYC
MFA Thesis Exhibition, Science and Ceremony, Hunter College, NYC
Selected Exhibitions from the Deviant Playground, T.E.S. Conference, NYC
1995 Rites of Spring, Installations in Gardens of NYC
Sandbox, Shelter Eclectic, NYC
Deviant Playground, Suffolk Schoolhouse, NYC
1994 Landmark Music and Arts, Brooklyn, NY
1993 Fountains, NC Crafts Gallery, Chapel Hill, NC
1992 BFA Honors Thesis Solo Exhibition, Glass Gallery, U.N.C.-Chapel Hill, NC
PUBLICATIONS (selected)
2016 Who's Who in Art, Deutschland Publications
2015 Art Review, Washington Post, Feb. 6th 2015.
Hidden Treasures, London.
2014 Glass Quarterly: Urban Glass Hotsheet, interview by Andrew Page.
"Glass, Ceramics, and Geology", Geology In Art, Andrea Baucon.
2013 Geochemical Glassblower:PIoneering the UnIverse Sally Resnik Rockriver Retrospective Blurb Publications
2011 The Best of America Glass, Select, Kennedy Publications
2008-10 Six International Artists Combining Glass and Ceramics, Jessamy Kelly,
PHD at University of Sunderland, England
2007 The Best of America Glass, Kennedy Publications
2006 The Best of North Carolina Artists, Kennedy Publications
2005 Encyclopedia of Ceramics , Steven Goldate; Australia
Ceramics Today, Artist of the Week, Steven Goldate
2004 Making Marks, Robin Hopper, KP Books
Ceramics Monthly, Cover Article, Thermal Formations,
Sally Resnik Rockriver, March
2002 New York Times: Art in Review, Roberta Smith, April 12th
American Style Magazine, Chatham County Artists, Charlotte Richardson
2001 In-Shows-NYC. July 19, Sandbox #9, Amy Shapiro
1999 Art and Craft of Clay, Susan Peterson, Prentice-Hall
1998 Working with Clay, Susan Peterson, Overlook Press
Sandbox Magazine, Geochemical Sounds, Sally Resnik: Jain/Myerson1998-2009
Feature Articles in Local Newspapers:
Durham Herald, Chapel Hill Herald, Durham News and Observer, Chapel Hill News, Sanford Herald, Daily Tarheel, Burlington Times News, Raleigh News and Observer, Chatham Record, Carrboro Free Press.
Sandbox Magazine, Place Yourself Outside, Sally Resnik: Jain/Myerson
Sandbox Magazine, Process, Sally Resnik: Jain/Myerson
1997 Sandbox Magazine, Art Review, Christiaan Koop: Jain/Myerson
Sandbox Magazine, Game of Life, Sally Resnik: Jain/Myerson
1996 Sandbox Magazine, Reflection Site, Sally Resnik: Jain/Myerson
1995 Sandbox Magazine, Play or Pray, Sally Resnik: Jain/Myerson
New York Post, Pic of the Week, Review of Deviant Playground
New York Magazine, Gotham, Review of Deviant Playground
LECTURES and TEACHING
2012 Ox-Bow School of Art "Beyond the Limits" Summer Instructor, Ox-Bow, MI1999 –PRESENT: Director: Resnik Thermal Lab.
2000-1 Visiting Scholar: Art Department, UNC-Chapel Hill
2000 Lecturer: National Science Foundation Workshop, Millersville University, PA
Materials Science Lecturer: Glass and Ceramics Lab, UNC-Chapel Hill
1996-8 Head of Ceramics: Assistant Professor, MN State University,
Moorhead, MN
1995-6 Adjunct Ceramics Instructor, Hunter College, NYC
1996 Artist in Residence, public demonstrations, American Craft Museum, NYC
Ceramics Studio Manager, MFA building Hunter College, NYC
MENTIONABLE
2015 Guest Artist- Glassblowing Demonstration: DC Glassworks, (DC suburbs).
2014 International Award for Art and Design (Germany)
2008 Chatham County Studio Tour, Second Place Award
2006 First Place in Ceramics: Best of North Carolina Artists
Kennedy Publications
Honorable Mention Sculpture: Best of North Carolina Artists
Kennedy Publications
2001 Scholarship to The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass:
Study with Harumi Yukutake
2000 Research at National Science Foundation Workshop on Chemistry and Art,
Millersville University, PA
Funding for Preparation of Articles on Geochemistry with Dr. Brian Stoner, UNC-Chapel Hill
1999 Co-Investigator Materials Fund:
Zinc Silicate Project, Material Sciences Department at UNC-Chapel Hill
1987 Scholarship: Studies in Genetic Engineering, N.C. Science Camp,
UNC- Wilmington
RELATED EDUCATION
2000 Glass Plus One: Harumi Yukitake, the Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
2001 Hot Glass Sculpture: Karen Willenbrink, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC 2001 Glass Blowing: Nick Mount, the Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY
1996-8 Glass Blowing and Construction: Jon Offut, Moorhead State University, MN
1993 Anagama Woodfiring: Chuck Hindes, Arrowmont School of Arts,
Gatlinburg, TN
1992 Glaze Chemistry: Val Cushing, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC
1990 Woodfiring: Ken Sedberry, Penland, NC
Altering Pots: Mary Law, Penland, NC
Drawing: Clarence Morgan, Penland, NC
1989 Salt Firing: Kirk Mangus, Penland, NC