Portland, Oregon
June 10, 1976

Ron Glowen

(Edited Transcript)

Ceramic sculptures by Seattle area artist Ben Sams, currently at the Fountain Gallery, vary from small to over seven feet in height, and are characterized by expert and confident manipulation of material in imagery that spans an expressive range from whimsy and humor to the bizarre and grotesque.

Having a background in printmaking, Sams is conscious of the importance of a textural surface as an expressive mode. He often embosses, carves, stamps, or constructs the plastic clay medium to reflect tactility. . . . Images are also built up from the surfaces and have a tendency to be personifications. . . . Sams also exploits the texture inherent in the clay by utilizing different clays, firing temperatures, and glazes.  He makes his own glazes and achieves color that is individualistic as well as expressive. . . .

The total sculptural pieces (total in that some are composed of several units or that each is a sum of all parts) are centrally figurative in nature, especially the larger works. . . . 

In the smaller works the personifications predominate.  Mostly there are facial features in profile or presented frontally. . . . These faces are everywhere in the works, usually in strange or uncommon positions . . . . Although lifelike, these faces are grotesque, and yet they fascinate.  It seems that the works have given rise to these creatures, or maybe the reverse is true.  The inherent functionalism of the smaller works might indicate that the personifications are subservient, but to me they seem as if they would rather be doing something else, something mischievous or perhaps evil.  You won't be able to take your eyes off the work of Ben Sams, nor will his works be able to take their eyes off of you.