New Ceramics at Cinema Gallery in Urbana. Photo by James Kyung

Ceramics by Yu-Ying Huang and Rimas VisGirda have come to the Cinema Gallery, located on Main Street in downtown Urbana. “Rimas VisGirda was one of those artist that have been with me from the beginning,” said Carolyn Baxley, Cinema Gallery owner. “Yu-Ying Huang spent some time working in his studio, and these are some pieces she produced while she was there.”

“We met at a ceramics symposium three years ago in Taipei, Taiwan,” VisGirda said. “I worked in her studio, then she came here and worked in mine.” Yu-Ying Huang is currently in Taiwan and was unavailable for an interview, but VisGirda said, “I know she’s an undersea diver, so her art is influenced with oceanic elements, while mine is urban.”

Though their pieces are derived from different influences and vary aesthetically, both VisGirda and Huang use a variety of ceramic techniques and mediums to arrive at their decorative art. Huang’s “The Breath of the Ocean” is hand-built with white stoneware with black stain, metallic salts and lusters. Dissimilarly, “Waves” is made from thrown porcelain with terra sigillata, vinyl tape, metallic salts and lusters. VisGirda uses porcelain with granite tile on board and wax inlay, then glazes decals and overglazes to produce pieces like “Flowers on the Wall.” Another one of his pieces, “Two Blondes Oval,” was thrown and made from altered white stoneware with coarse feldspar.

Grounded in color and line, VisGirda’s art explores the ebb and flow of fads and fashions. This is partially due to the influences of underground cartoonists such as Robert Crumb and S. Clay Wilson and sub-cultural movements such as the British Punk Movement. VaisGirda said life inspires him.

“I don’t like to categorize my work. I want people to look at it and see what they want to see, draw from their own life and past experiences,” VasGirda said.

Lithuanian-born VisGirda came to the U.S. when he was seven. Hailing specifically from Kaunas, Lithuania, the ceramic artist is now settled in Champaign. His family lived first in Boston, then L.A. and Sacramento, Calif. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physics at the University of Sacramento. Before going to Washington State University and earning an MFA in ceramics, VisGirda worked as a physicist in the aerospace industry. The transition from science to art wasn’t difficult, he said. “In fact, physics and art are intrinsically opposed to one another. Physics is about logic. Art is about emotion,” he said.

The ceramics exhibition runs at the Cinema Gallery from June 3 to July 3 and will travel to AMACO Gallery in Indianapolis, Ind. “You have to travel,” VisGirda said. “That’s where the ideas come from.”