“ Amazed ” ( 1983 )
58 ” x 55.75 ” x 6 ” Porcelain , Mixed Media
Photo Credit : Roger Schreiber
“ I like the absurd . If
things feel too calm , I ask myself why not ?”
How much of this was innate and helped her to overcome barriers and how much was added to the later narrative of her work ? Patti chuckled and confessed her mother would say the rebel was always present and willing .
Patti was raised in Spokane , Washington , but has lived in Seattle for most of her career . “ Being from a Japanese family and my father being an immigrant , my parents really encouraged me to do well academically and in school , because you don ’ t want to starve , you know . So they encouraged me to go into the sciences . That ’ s how I was programmed to kind of think that way . When I got to college and realized I was going to get a degree in art , I thought why not kill two more years of school and finish grad school . I considered teaching , but at that time I would have had to take a lot more education courses and really wanted to stay with studio work . I was getting more and more involved in studio art . As a matter of fact , I got a double masters , one in ceramics and one in jewelry .” Avoiding being an educator didn ’ t work , though . Patti ended up being asked to teach a beginner design class while in grad school . After graduating she married a fellow student , Fred Bauer , and ended up taking a team-teaching job at Wisconsin State University . After several other university teaching jobs , Patti eventually worked her way to the arts program at her alma mater , University of Washington , where she , along with Robert Sperry and Harold Kotler , grew its ceramics program into one of the best in the United States .
Teaching did not stifle Patti ’ s creative innovation or drive . She confesses that the ability to embrace the funk art scene and release her inner rebel was a gradual process . It was never a forced or conscious decision . “ College taught me all the foundations of what we were to expect and how we could use clay . I loved university ; in large classes you could get lost . I loved that feeling . Gradually , the classes got smaller and I got to know people better in class and after
74 ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE