Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Cindy Kolodziejski

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.kolodz07
Creators:
Kolodziejski, Cindy, 1962-
Lloyd, Frank, 1951-
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
Dates:
2007 May 5-16
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
7 Items
Sound recording: 7 wav files (4 hr., 10 min.)
digital
36 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Cindy Kolodziejski conducted 2007 May 5-16, by Frank Lloyd, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at the Frank Lloyd Gallery, in Santa Monica, California.
Scope and Contents
Kolodziejski speaks of moving in her early childhood from Germany to Arizona and finally to California; the divorce of her parents at a young age and her feelings of abandonment; her desire as a young child to be an artist; the early influence of her grandmother, an art teacher; teaching herself how to draw by copying images and creating still-lifes; an influential art teacher in high school who encouraged her to pursue college-level art classes and attend art school after graduation; her decision to enroll at Otis College of Art and Design; her foundation art classes at Otis and increasing interest in ceramics; choosing ceramics as a medium because of its flexibility and of form and potential for imagery; the value of her art education to her career; earning a Master of Fine Arts degree while teaching at California State University, Long Beach; the union of form, function, and imagery in her work, especially seen in a recent exhibition at the Frank Lloyd Gallery titled "Reversal of Fountain"; using the University of California, Los Angeles, libraries to find images at first, and later searching the internet for inspiration; creating pieces which play with and explore gender issues and sexuality; being reviewed and featured in articles which are especially concerned with issues of the body and femininity; the documentation of her art in various periodicals and texts, including a piece she wrote for Ceramics Monthly concerning her own work; gaining exposure through these articles, which helped to advance her career; the painstaking and technical process required to fashion her works of art; showing at the Garth Clark Gallery very quickly after graduation; traveling to Greece, China, Nepal, New York, and Italy, and being influenced by the exposure to the different art and cultures; recent travels with her daughter to Italy and feeling excited and humbled by the beauty of certain works; giving a talk at the Getty Museum about a show entitled "The Royal Menagerie" featuring the Meissen large-scale porcelain animals; participating in group shows in museums, particularly the "Color and Fire" exhibit which showcased important ceramicists from 1950 to 2000; being awarded various grants and feeling that applying for those awards is a very worthwhile experience for many artists; teaching first at the high school level and then in college; her teaching methods; forming friendships with fellow artists and art teachers; integrating the use of technology into her art-making process by finding and manipulating images on the computer; feeling motivated to produce in a positive way for exhibition deadlines; the support and friendships that developed through exhibiting with the Clark Garth and Frank Lloyd galleries; the encouragement and support she has been shown by her family throughout her career; and categorizing herself first and foremost as an artist rather than a craft artist or ceramicist. Kolodziejski recalls, Lita Albuquerque, Jill Giegerich, Peter Lodato, Barbara Thomason, Roy Dowell, Eugene Sturman, Carol Caroompas, Tony Marsh, Ralph Baccera, Adrian Saxe, Ron Nagle, Roseline Delisle, John Mason, Jo Lauria, David Pagel, Garth Clark, and others.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Cindy Kolodziejski (1962- ) is a sculptor and painter from Venice, California. Frank Lloyd (1951- ) is a gallery owner from Santa Monica, California.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for this interview provided by Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.

Digital Content


More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 10 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Painters -- California -- Venice Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sculptors -- California -- Venice Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ceramics Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Self-taught artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women painters Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women sculptors Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New York (N.Y.) -- Description and views Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arizona -- Description and Travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
California -- description and travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
China -- Description and Travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Greece -- description and travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Italy -- description and travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nepal -- Description and Travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Albuquerque, Lita Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bacerra, Ralph, 1938-2008 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Caroompas, Carole Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Clark, Garth, 1947- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Delisle, Roseline Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dowell, Roy Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Giegerich, Jill, 1952- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lauria, Jo Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lodato, Peter Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Marsh, Tony, 1954- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mason, John, 1927-2019 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nagle, Ron Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pagel, David Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Saxe, Adrian Anthony, 1943- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sturman, Eugene Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Thomason, Barbara A. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
California State University, Long Beach -- Faculty Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Frank Lloyd Gallery Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Garth Clark Gallery (New York, N.Y.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
J. Paul Getty Museum Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Otis College of Art and Design -- Students Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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