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.