Professor creates ceramic exhibit

Cryptomnesia displayed in Trinity Hall during October

By Sarah Page

Two clear plastic water pitchers sat on the white windowsill in the Chico State associate professor's office. Both were half full of water with a layer of dust. There were three wooden rectangular desks in the white rectangular room at the end of two slim hallways. There was no trace of clay. There was no pile of rejected art that had been stashed away in the corner. One poster on the wall was the only trace of art in this office. The office did not have a tone. Ceramics professor, Sue Whitmore's elbow is propping up her head as she cheerfully talks on the phone.

"They didn't give me a desk," Whitmore said after she hung up the phone.

The desks were there but hidden under heaps of white printer paper. Whitmore is not only an art professor but she also creates ceramics in her studio at home, which used to be the garage. During the month of October, Cryptomnesia, her ceramics exhibit is in the Humanities Center Gallery in Trinity Hall at Chico State.

"It's an exploration of abstract forms and colors," Whitmore said.

Cryptomnesia is the ability to recognize shapes but not be able to recall their exact form. Whitmore describes it as plagiarizing yourself. When an author writes something but has forgotten. Then that same writer recreates the same idea, Whitmore said.

" Once I get started, it's hard to stop." -- Sue Whitmore

When she began making the ceramics for Cryptomnesia, Whitmore didn't have a theme she was working toward but kept creating until she had a finished product.

"I have a general idea and I work until it looks right. It's improvised," Whitmore said.

Kiss Me Now was one of the more difficult pieces in the exhibit. Another piece exploded in her new kiln and stuck to Kiss Me Now. Whitmore had to work on it from there.

Fixing art that has been involuntary modified by the kiln is not Whitmore's favorite part of ceramics. She likes molding the clay into something she didn't know it could become.

"You start with absolutely nothing and build up," Whitmore said. "[I like] starting from a bag of mush."

Whitmore's love of creating ceramics is something that she forces herself to avoid sometimes. When she goes into her studio, she gets caught up in her art and never wants to leave.

"I love it. I'm not sure if everything I make is art. I just make things. Once I get started, it's hard to stop," Whitmore said.

Whitmore spreads her love of art to all of her students, too. Her hope for them is that they understand you don't have to have an idea right away. The most important part is to keep working.

"You'll get so much out of the process maybe the end point isn't the point," Whitmore said.