Critical Reviews

"The power of abstraction writ bold is well represented in Loretta Kaufman's

arresting painting of triangular fragments creating a geometric puzzle of intricate

beauty".  'Animated Forms VI (The Inner Core I):  Circle of Life Series'.  National

Association of Women Artists Exhibition Transparency, Monroe Gallery,

The Arts Club of Washington, February 2019.  Sandra Bertrand, Chief Art

Critic, Highbrow Magazine, Washington, DC. The painting received an Honorable

Mention in Fusion Art's exhibition Lines, Shapes & Objects in 2019.


"Loretta Kaufman's wall-hung handbuilt stoneware piece, 'His Better Half:  Celia

Series' makes no reference to utilitarian forms such as pots or vases.  It simply IS, and

in this sense it works as art.  With its organic labial shapes and raw, unglazed surfaces,

it represents an exciting tension between symmetry and fluidity, with nothing superfluous or

self-consciously decorative about it."  Piedmont Craftsmen New Members' Show.  Tom

Patterson, Writer, Curator, Winston-Salem, NC.


"The stoneware wall relief of Loretta Kaufman reasserts not only sculpture's

physicality, buts its tie to the physical structure of the natural world. Her

There Is Safety In Numbers:  The Celia Series presents a sweep of cell-

like orifices, ridges and calyxes that echo the natural architecture of the

coral reef."  Tri StateSculptors Annual Conference & Exhibition, University of North

Carolina.  Dr. Patrick E White, Associate Dean, St. Mary's College, Notre Dame,

Indiana.

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"I chose works for the exhibition primarily on the strength of their ideas, content or

formal organization and others for their high level of technical accomplishment.  Of

course, the awards went to those entries which demonstrated both technical ability and

strong pictorial content on equal measure."  Milton Bloch, Executive Director, Mint

Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC, Juror NCNB Open Art Exhibition, SC.  Purchase

Award, 'Double Vision:  Celia Series'. Permanent Collection, Bank of America,

London, England.



"Loretta Kaufman's 'Secret Ceremony:  Celia Series' like so many other works does

not convey an unequivocal meaning but is formally and technically interesting.  In detail

looks like serrated wafer or some brittle fungus.  The overall composition  vaguely

suggests a knotted textile - and the softness and flexibility of textile form make a

fascinating contrast with the apparent hardness of the substance."  Janet Koplos,

Associate Editor, Art in America, New York. National Council On Education for the

Ceramic Arts Exhibition. ASU Art Museum, AZ, and touring.  One of 50 works

selected from a field of 1,200 entries.  This sculpture received an honorable Mention

in IGOA's Spotlight exhibition in 2016.



"Loretta Kaufman's two small stoneware wall pieces 'Close Again:  Celia Series' and

'Spring Dance: Celia Series' have an unexpected eloquence.   They are the same size,

brown in color and made using identical small square stoneware slabs attached to a

base.  Though twin-like in all their attributes, each one has a profoundly different

personality.  One seems straight-laced, tight and guarded; the other seems to be a

living organic form, undulating and teeming with life."  Dr. Kathryn Bennett, Curator of

Education, Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC.  Tri State Sculptors Exhibition,

SC.



"There was a time when I judged art by the intensity of feeling it evoked in me.  Then

one day I went to a foundry where bronze sculpture is cast.  By learning one

complicated process of creating art, I learned a new appreciation of all art, and gained

an understanding of sensitivity to handling of the material - one of the criteria by which

San Francisco gallery owner Dorothy Weiss made selections when jurying 900 entries in

the Third Annual Monarch Tile Ceramic Competition.  Of the works chosen for awards

Weiss said they clearly excel in such qualities as sensitivity in handling of the material, the

thoughtful resolution of their  ideas and originality in approach."   First Place -

'Double Monologues: The Celia Series'.  Subsequent purchase, San Angelo

Museum of Fine Arts, TX.


Currents '86 - Contemporary Works East of the Mississippi.  Middle Tennessee State

University.  "Contrasts, and the absence of predictable imagery provided a most

stimulating atmosphere at the ninth Biennial Crafts Exhibition this year.  In fact,

these qualities positively marked a refreshing display of diverse images, surfaces

and forms within a fascinating group of exceptionally well crafted pieces in

several media.  Other notable exhibits in clay were "Friends"  by Loretta Kaufman,

Piedmont, South Carolina".  Alf Ward, Director, Appalachian Center For Crafts

TN.



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