Faculty/Staff Detail

Vaughn Randall, Art and Art History Department, is curator of an exhibition titled “Liquid Earth,” on display in the Hope Horn Gallery at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. The show features artworks produced in part during the International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art (ICCCIA) in Scranton, iron pours performed at SUNY Cortland and art residencies in China tied to SUNY Cortland’s Art and Art History Department program. Participating artists are Changzong Shao, Hui Fang, Gavin Kenyon, Tom Kohler, Lionel Maunz, Randall, Margarita Rasso, Erin Schiano and Wei Li. The exhibition will be on view from June until the end of the 2018 Fall Semester.

The “Liquid Earth” exhibition was conceived as result of a long-term collaboration among artists in the cast iron community in connection and support of SUNY Cortland. Over the years, the campus became a creative hub for local, regional and international artists who came to produce their pieces, share their work and ideas with the public, students and faculty.

The ICCCIA started as a grass root organization that promotes artists active in the field of cast iron. Since the conception, the ICCCIA developed a widely recognized international platform that fosters innovation in the creative practice and sustains relevancy in the context of the contemporary art scene. Associated artists cultivate a multi-faceted dialog furthering cultural, historical and aesthetic discourse and inspire global participation in the practice.    

The exhibition is organized by Randall, associate professor of sculpture at SUNY Cortland, and co-chair and president of the ICCCIA. Randall invited artists to participate in the exhibition whose work align with the philosophical framework of the organization in support of its mission statement. “It is important to acknowledge that cottage industry, cupola cast iron operations in the U.S. are essentially gone,” said Randall. “As a result, the ability and technical knowledge about small production drastically diminished. The artistic community adopted the practices for the purposes of creating contemporary sculpture. The artists in the exhibition demonstrate a common approach towards contemporary cast iron sculpture while keeping the tradition alive. The exhibition celebrates and promotes an interest around cast iron sculpture, craft and community.”