Designed for indoor or outdoor display, Russ Vogt's vividly colored ceramic sculptures €“ reed clusters, totems and mosaic-tiled animals - are a reflection of the artist himself. His pieces can be mischievous, quiet and provocative, all at the same time. And peeking through the sensitivity to color, light and form is a secret sense of humor, a good-natured belief in the goodness of life.

The components of Vogt's abstracted reeds and totem-style sculptures are playful large-scale extruded, wheel-thrown, and hand-built earthenware forms. The tube-like components, in intense color patches of saturated jewel tones, are stacked spontaneously on an underlying steel pipe structure. The sculptures can be seen as individuals, configured as fences, clustered together or mounted on concrete walls. When imagining his work placed outdoors it is the interaction of Vogt's abstract sculptures against a natural landscape that particularly excites him.

The joyous love of colors laid next to one another dominates and distinguishes Vogt's work. This same playful nature is evident in another avenue of his talent: large, mosaic-tiled animals. Built on steel frames with concrete bodies under vividly colored ceramic coats, these life-sized or larger-than-life-sized animals include dogs, llamas, deer and horses. Vogt even completed the commission of a life-sized elephant.

Russ Vogt's parents grew up during the Depression and his grandparents were family farmers; this meant that Vogt was raised not only with an appreciation of land and its natural forms but with the useful lessons of "making do" and "figuring things out." He learned early to use tools to make and fix things and, today, having turned to sculpture after an MA in Painting, this mechanical prowess serves him well.

Vogt figured out early that it is necessary to fire the pieces in his ceramic sculptures far longer than with traditional indoor works, so they can be placed outside, so the clay is hard and vitreous enough not to absorb moisture. In his totem works, the clay also must be heavy-duty enough to withstand the weight of stacking his various components.

"Sitting Dog"
Ceramic on Concrete and Steel Sculpture
66" x 22" x 42"

"Sun Dog"
Ceramic on Concrete
& Steel Sculpture
35" x 58" x 19"
--- SOLD ---

"Indigo Dog"
Ceramic on Concrete
& Steel Sculpture
51" x 60" x 15"
--- SOLD ---