Masaomi Yasunaga at Lisson Gallery

Arranged on a long, low mound of gravel, Masaomi Yasunaga’s stone-infused ceramics at Lisson Gallery look as if they’ve been excavated from an ancient site.  Allowing glaze, granite, slip and unrefined porcelain to fuse together in unexpected ways in his kiln, the Japanese sculptor invents a surface for his unconventional pieces that suggests natural forms built up over time.  (On view in Chelsea through Oct 15th).

Masaomi Yasunaga, Vessel fused with stone I, glaze, colored slip, granite, kaolin and silver leaf, 52 3/8 x 36 5/8 x 12 5/8 inches, 2022.

Clementine Keith-Roach at PPOW Gallery

Clementine Keith-Roach’s sculptures at PPOW Gallery combine found vessels with casts of her own body to explore her experience of motherhood.  During her first pregnancy, the artist felt as if she was a ‘labouring vessel’ and made the connection literal by joining carefully painted limbs to used and worn ceramics.  Paired with her husband Christopher Page’s paintings depicting mirrors with no reflection and cloud-filled windows, the exhibition explores interiority in both the physical and psychological realms.  (On view through July 1st in Tribeca).

Clementine Keith-Roach, Lost Object, terracotta vessel, jesmonite, paint, 22 ½ x 21 ¼ x 17 ¾ inches, 2022.

Elias Sime at James Cohan Gallery

Megaphones accent the surfaces of Ethiopian artist Elias Sime’s latest sculptures at James Cohan Gallery, prompting viewers to question what voices are amplified in public discourse.  In the context of politics and the pandemic, Sime explains that he’s thinking about “…how humans are easily manipulated by individuals and rush to conclusions that they often regret when the truth begins to surface.”  Having recently created domed sculpture for a show at the Saint Louis Art Museum inspired by Native American Cahokia Mounds and the St Louis Gateway Arch, this huge, bowl-like sculpture is a highlight of Sime’s current show. (On view in Tribeca through April 24th.  Masks, social distancing and appointments are required).

Elias Sime, Tightrope: Eyes and Ears of a Bat (1), reclaimed electrical wires on wood, 47 ¼ x 83 ½ inches, 2020.

Sahana Ramakrishnan in ‘A Stranger’s Soul is a Deep Well’ at Fridman Gallery

Born in Mumbai, raised in Singapore and living in Brooklyn, Sahana Ramakrishnan draws on a multitude of sources, including Hindu, Buddhist and Greek mythology to create intriguingly enigmatic stories.  Referring to ‘the innate mystery of the other,’ the group exhibition ‘A Stranger’s Soul is a Deep Well’ at Fridman Gallery showcases complex and unexplained imagery, including Ramakrishnan’s characterful animals, gathering around a vessel to ask for retribution.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Feb 20th).

Sahana Ramakrishnan, All The Animals Asked For Blood, egg tempera, sumi ink, gold leaf and ferric chloride on stretched paper, 16 x 13 x 1”, 2020.

Ursula Morley Price at McKenzie Fine Art

From her home in a small French town, British octogenarian artist Ursula Morley Price continues to invent unique ceramic forms that evoke the beauty and order of the natural world. This white twist form, on view at McKenzie Fine Art on the Lower East Side, suggests delicate petals, a flexible spinal column, coral, machinery and more. (On view through Dec 22nd).

Ursula Morley Price, White Twist Form, stoneware, 7 ¼ inches high, 9 inches diameter, 2017. Photograph courtesy of McKenzie Fine Art, Inc.