Candace Resnick was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A. and began her love affair with clay 35 years ago. Bored with her career as a professional seamstress, she started hanging around a friend's pottery studio and became so fascinated by the process that she couldn't resist trying it herself. She attended 2 years of general education at the University of Minnesota but only had one ceramics course. Her early wheel thrown forms utilized decorative techniques involving added coil and incised designs. In those days, all her firings were done in the reducing atmosphere of wood and gas kilns and bright colors were neither easily achieved nor particularly sought after by the general public. Candace was hungry for colors beyond the earth tones, which were readily available. A breakthrough came in the form of a book entitled "The Penland Book of Pottery" which she devoured on sight. The publication included the techniques of some of the most innovative ceramists of the time and she promptly signed up for some classes at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. Her short stay there opened her eyes to the vast possibilities of commercially made ceramic stains in a rainbow of colors as well as the bottomless potential of hand built forms. In lieu of formal training, she sought out potters that she could apprentice with and Candace believes that this experiential, self-taught approach has fostered her unique and original style. Twenty years ago she left utilitarian pottery behind and began creating decorative murals and sculptural pieces, which grace homes throughout the world.

These works were dubbed living tile and have been installed in many exclusive private residences. The foyer of the American embassy in Rome boasts three of her larger than life flowers, (part of Ambassador Sembler's private collection) and a Saudi Arabian prince swims with her tile "fish" in his Aspen, Colorado pool.

Candace works with high-fired white stoneware clay to which she adds colored stains. The colored clay can either be rolled into thin sheets and appliquéd on to a plain background slab or applied as slip with an airbrush and a series of hand cut stencils. An innovative clay recipe, which makes use of paper pulp as a reinforcing agent, has allowed her the freedom to create impossibly large, yet delicate pieces which simulate draped cloth, large tropical leaves and fragile, exotic flowers.

During her career, her work has been published in many national and international magazines as well as in books featuring custom tile installations. She has written about her original techniques in Ceramics Monthly and the Contemporary Ceramics Studios of America newsletter. She has taught many workshops in Seattle, New Mexico and New Zealand as well as children's classes in the Alaskan bush and she has exhibited in galleries in Alaska, Seattle, New Mexico, Florida, California and her home state, Colorado.

In her first solo Exhibition at Jenggala Art Gallery, Candace will display a unique range of artwork that is somewhat different from her usual style. "I realized early on in my residency that I would have to be very flexible and take a new approach with my designs, as the materials I was working with had vastly different properties than what I use in my own studio", Candace explains. "Ceramics is a very complex science involving not only complicated chemical reactions between the clay and the glazes but the added component of the mysterious firing process. Putting this show together was very challenging and has forced me to grow more than I would have thought possible. I have been working in this medium all my adult life but it continues to humble me. You can never be too sure of yourself, where clay is concerned there is always something new to learn. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity of working at Jenggala and am excited about the new direction it has given my work."

Jenggala Art Gallery is proud to present a ceramic exhibition by Candace Resnick entitled, "Pushing Clay To The Limit".