July 12 - August 10, 2025
The Washington Art Association is pleased to present Material Language: Sculptural Ceramics, a vibrant group exhibition featuring the work of nine accomplished ceramic artists: Mary Lou Alberetti, Souby Boski, Jocelyn Braxton-Armstrong, Pamela Church, Mindy Horn, Elizabeth MacDonald, Donna Namnoum, John Rohlfing, and Eva St. John.
At the heart of this exhibition is a shared exploration of the expressive possibilities of clay. Each artist brings a distinct voice to the conversation, using surface, form, and material to craft works in their own "material language." Whether bold or meditative, these sculptures invite viewers into a tactile, contemplative space shaped by the slow, intentional rhythms of making. The show celebrates the rich diversity of contemporary ceramic practice, from refined porcelain pieces to structurally ambitious forms, revealing clay's remarkable versatility and depth.
Join us for the opening reception on Saturday, July 12, from 4:00 to 6:00 PM. Visitors will have the chance to meet the artists, experience their work firsthand, and enjoy a lively evening with art and conversation in Washington Depot.
The Artists
Mary Lou Alberetti
Mary Lou Alberetti is a studio artist and professor emerita at Southern Connecticut State University with an MFA degree from Arizona State University. Her works encompass ceramic reliefs and mixed media. She has a 40-year background in the arts and has worked with numerous art consultants and galleries. Her works are found in civic, private, and corporate collections, including HBO World Headquarters, NYC, and the Mint Museum of Art and Design, NC. Her work is found in Sculpting Clay by Leon Nigrosh, Sculptural Ceramics by Peter King, and www.guild.com.
Souby Boski
Souby Boski has been an Art teacher in the CT public schools and Adjunct Professor of Art at Naugatuck Valley Community College. Since 2004, she has been teaching painting classes and workshops at area art education venues in CT, MA, and FL.
She holds a BA in Art Education from Stetson University and a MALS in Art from Wesleyan University. She has studied painting with nationally recognized artists and teachers: Eric Aho, Ira Barkoff, Lois Dodd, and Ruth Miller.
Jocelyn Braxton-Armstrong
Jocelyn Braxton Armstrong's refined sculptures bridge fine art and craft. Formerly a Manhattan fashion stylist, her background informs her figurative focus. Since turning to ceramics in 2001, she has explored the female form and created striking porcelain wall sculptures, especially her evolving series of delicate wings.
She has received awards from Ceramics Monthly, American Style Magazine, The Aldrich Museum, and the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism. Her work is widely exhibited and part of the Brooklyn Museum’s Feminist Art Base.
Armstrong holds a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, teaches ceramics at Manhattanville College, and works from her studio in Bridgeport, CT.
Pamela Church
Pamela Church began her career in electrical engineering, later earning a Master’s in Spiritual Psychology in 2000 and shifting toward a more heart-centered path. While working in social services, she took her first pottery class in 2007 and quickly fell in love with clay. She left her job to apprentice with Squidge Davis in Maine and continued her studies at Haystack, Penland, and workshops in the U.S. and Japan.
She soon began teaching pottery and later brought her wheel into an Alzheimer’s center—an experience that revealed the deep joy and connection art can spark. Since then, she’s shared clay with residents in assisted and skilled nursing centers across Connecticut.
Her ceramic work ranges from quiet and meditative to bold and whimsical, always grounded in exploration, love, and human connection
Mindy Horn
Mindy Horn is a ceramic artist and former paper conservator who worked in Connecticut and New York. Her ceramic work is held in both public and private collections. With a background rooted in conservation, her approach to clay is informed by the same meticulous attention to detail, technical knowledge, and deep respect for material that guided her work with paper.
Her interest in ceramics and paper conservation are closely connected—both involve fragile, responsive materials that transform over time and through touch. Porcelain and paper, in particular, carry a physical memory of their use, embodying a quiet record of care, history, and human interaction.
Elizabeth MacDonald
Elizabeth MacDonald, who lives in Bridgewater, Connecticut, has been the recipient of numerous awards and in 1999 received the Governor's Arts Award in visual arts. She has most recently shown her work at The Century Association in New York City, and has completed commissions for the chapel in New Milford Hospital and the Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven. Ms. MacDonald received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Chatham College, and she attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
Donna Namnoum
Donna Namnoum is a ceramist who creates sculptural vessels inspired by plants in which the parts are thrown on the pottery wheel and assembled.
Namnoum received a Masters Degree in Art Education and Ceramics at the Hartford Art School of the University of Hartford. She worked as an art teacher and administrator in Connecticut public schools for 35 years until her retirement.
Now a full-time artist, Donna maintains a home and studio in Canton, CT. She exhibits throughout New England and the United States, and her work has appeared in Art Scope and Sculpture Magazines, and numerous times in Ceramics Monthly Magazine.
John Rohlfing
John Rohlfing received his MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 1982. He has earned international recognition, including Honorable Mentions at the Ceramic Biennial in Korea and the International Ceramics Competition in Japan, as well as an Emerging Talent Award from NCECA.
His work has been featured in solo exhibitions at the Garth Clark Gallery (New York and Los Angeles), Nancy Margolis Gallery (New York), and The Works Gallery (Philadelphia), and in group shows at institutions including the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Racine Art Museum, and the Mint Museum of Craft and Design.
Rohlfing’s ceramics are held in numerous public collections, including the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery, Ichon World Ceramic Center (Korea), Taipei Fine Arts Museum (Taiwan), and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. He has received artist fellowships from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and New Haven’s One Percent for Art Program.
He is Professor Emeritus at Post University.
Eva St. John
Eva St. John discovered pottery at the University of California, Berkeley, studying with Peter Voulkos. Back in New York, she studied figurative sculpture at the National Academy of Design with Bruno Lucchesi, receiving the Helen Smith Prize for creativity.
She worked at the Clay Art Center in Port Chester before establishing her own studio and kiln in Morris, CT. A deepening interest in tradition led her to study RAKU firing with a master in Uzès, France—an experience that continues to shape her expressive, experimental work.
Eva has exhibited at the Hartford Atheneum, New Britain Museum of American Art, Slater Memorial Museum, and the Mattatuck Museum, among others. Her sculptures and architectural vessels, which she calls Calderas, are held in major American collections and private homes, including a large bronze recently placed in a private arboretum in Basel, Switzerland.