The exhibit shows work from Professor Emeritus Keith Ekstam, as well as several of his previous students, over his 37 years of teaching at Missouri State University.
Like many artists, Ekstam started small.
“When I was a kid, I liked to make things, toothpick forts and cardboard box sculptures, [and I] just kind of think it all sort of came out in the wash as I got older,” he explained. “I was taking English classes and urban planning, and I kept taking art classes. And I just decided that, yeah, this is what I'm going to do.”
Ekstam soon realized that clay was his medium of choice.
“[I had] done some [clay work] in high school and as a youngster. And then when I got to college, you have more equipment and facilities and then things are assigned where you, you know, solve a problem,” he said. “It's kind of a finicky material in some ways. In some ways it's really easy to use because it's right in your hands. It's direct. You're not going to cut your fingers off like it's a bandsaw, but it can also crack and blow up and do all kinds of weird things when you fire it,” he added. “So I just think I like the immediacy of it ultimately.”
One of Ekstam’s main inspirations for his work is nature, including the source of the clay he is working with as well as “landscapes, geology, [and] rock formations.” He describes much of his own work as being “organic and naturalistic looking.” In addition to this, Ekstam said he often derives inspiration from architecture, tools and toys. “But I think naturalistic forms are kind of the overriding thing that you see when you look at what I make,” he explained.
“[With clay] you can make artworks that mimic life completely. You can't tell if it's real or not. Or it could be extremely abstract and organic,” Ekstam said. “I've worked in it for 40 some years, and I feel like I could — there's so much technical stuff that I could still look into that I really have just scratched the surface.”
Ekstam began his art career at Minnesota State University in Mankato, his hometown. He finished an undergraduate program there, then took a few years to live on the East and West Coast as well as working as an apprentice potter in Massachusetts.
Soon after, Ekstam got his MFA at University of Michigan.
“Then in that summer, we moved to Springfield so I could take this teaching position at [MSU].”
Ekstam describes his experience with the university quite positively.
“It feels sort of like home because it's a similar size of a school in a similar type of a school, a large regional state university that I went to as an undergrad,” he said.
“Springfield is pretty creative when you think about it. Even though we're kind of isolated out here in the Ozarks a little bit, you'd like to think you kind of add something to it. And I think we did,” he added.
Ekstam made the decision to retire in 2024, making his career at Missouri State almost four decades long.
“[It] was a fine time, [but now it’s] time for somebody else to come in and, you know, take the reins.”
Since his retirement, Ekstam has continued to make art.
“Maybe some more pottery forms here and there, and then this show has taken quite a bit of energy the last several months. So I'm kind of focusing on that,” he said. “[After that I’ll] just kind of move on to the next project.”
Ekstam pitched the idea of the exhibit himself, citing it as “retrospective” look into his experiences as an artist and with the Missouri State community.
“Part of what you do is that you're involved in your research and creative activities, but you also are, you know, teaching classes and running studios. So I thought that alumni portion sort of tied in with everything nicely. And I think that's kind of a cool part of the show,” he said.
As for his hopes for the exhibition, Ekstam said he wants people to see the creative possibilities with clay. “The things you can do with this material are, you know, pretty, pretty broad and and really interesting.”
Ekstam’s exhibit has been up since January 20, but there is still more time to catch his and his students’ work.
The exhibition will continue until February 20, at the Carolla Arts Exhibition Center.
More information on Ekstam’s work can be found on his website.