One of the oldest forms of art collided with one of the newest at the SWC Art Gallery. It was a winning combination.

“Travel Size: A Ceramic Visit with Artaxis.org” featured a web-driver media room, a Clay Club exhibition and work from the permanent SWC ceramics collection for an interactive exhibit. Gallery co-director John Oliver Lewis assembled an exhibit that was hip, edgy and cool, but well grounded.

“The artists decided which pieces to put in the gallery, rather than myself picking works from different artists,” said Lewis, an assistant professor of art. “They sent me the clay and ceramic pieces they wanted exhibited, so it was kind of like Christmas for me to open all the boxes and look at everything.”

Artist Nathan Betschart said the Artaxis.org website is a great place to start networking. Students to professionals can look at each other’s art, receive job offers and link to others.

“Not everybody is on it,” said Betschart. “It is limited in a lot of ways, but it is a good one. I mean it’s a start to where people can go and is held at a high standard.”

Betschart’s ghostly abstract piece gave off an intensity that was alluring and provocative. He was the most questioned exhibitor at the artist talk back.

“For me the clay is important,” he said. “It transfers a kind of a fragile permanence. It is a material I can manipulate to do what I want it to do and give me the effects I want.”

It is a difficult process as clay can crack and break, but Betschart said he enjoys the challenge.

“To me all that is important is process and that is hard for people to grasp that idea,” he said. “For my students I tell them I don’t really care about deadline, what I care about is your process to get there.”

Art at the exhibit highlighted the evolution of pottery, including several pieces from renown ceramics artist and teacher Peter Voulkos, whose influence on pottery and sculpting came into play in the 1950s and 1960s. His influence on ceramics is still felt in the U.S. today. Voulkos is well represented in the permanent collection of his work on campus.

SWC art student Rohanie Lucero, 26, said the exhibit displays encouraged her to expand her career goals in ceramics.

“I fully encourage any art class,” said Lucero. “It’s a fun class, it’s not an easy A, but you get to learn a little bit about yourself and the teachers are full on ready to help you figure out what you want to do.”