WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Texas County artist Nathan W. Ferree will display several of his “Cyborg Clayworks” in an exhibit opening Jan. 16 in the Gallery on the Mezzanine at the West Plains Civic Center.

This free exhibit, sponsored by Missouri State University-West Plains’ University/Community Programs (U/CP) Department, will be open during regular civic center hours until Feb. 17.

A 1995 graduate of Cabool High School, Ferree obtained his bachelor of fine arts degree from Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., in 2000 and his master of fine arts degree from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, in 2004.

He has worked as a production potter and demonstrator at Silver Dollar City in Branson and has had several pieces accepted in the Missouri 50 at the state fair in Sedalia, Mo., and the MOAK regional art competition at the Springfield Art Museum over the years.  He also served as resident artist at Lake Eustis Arts Accord in Eustis, Fla., from 2005-2008.  In 2008, he returned to Texas County to become a full-time studio artist and open his own studio where he creates anything from teacups to seven-foot-tall ceramic humanoid robots called “Cyborg Clayworks.”

Most of these pieces, he said, are constructed of relatively small clay parts and assembled with bolts and rubber gaskets.  His pottery is functional stoneware and is meant to be used, he added.  “What motivates me besides the developing narrative around the pieces is the engineering that goes into each sculpture,” he explained.

In 2009, two of his sculptures, “E.R.U. 92b” and “Pardosa Ceramicus” were accepted in the Missouri 50 at the state fair, where “Pardosa Ceramicus” received honorable mention honors.  These same two pieces, as well as the sculpture “Cheeseburger with Robots,” were accepted in the Competition 29 at Topeka, Kan., that same year.  “Cheeseburger with Robots” also appears in the current December/January issue of American Craft magazine.

In 2010, Ferree’s sculpture “The Skeleton of a Robot Dog” was accepted in the MOAK regional art competition at the Springfield Art Museum, and this year, his sculpture “Saturn’s Cat” was accepted into the competition.  Ferree also has had solo exhibitions at Good Girl Gallery in Springfield and Bethel College in North Newton, Kan.  Some of his pieces are currently on display at the Good Girl Gallery in Springfield and Phoenix Fired Arts in Joplin.

In addition to visual art competitions, Ferree participates in a variety of art and fine craft fairs annually.

“We invite everyone to take the opportunity to explore Nathan’s world of ceramic sculptures, where he brings clay to life in ways you may have never imagined,” said U/CP Director Brenda Malkowski.

For more information about the exhibition at the civic center, call the U/CP Department office at 417-255-7966.