EXHIBIT OF CERAMICS, WATERCOLORS BY PADUCAH ARTIST OPENS FRIDAY

Intense colors on imaginative sculptural ceramic forms will greet visitors to the Southeast Missouri University Museum where the works of artist Sarah Roush will be on display from Friday to Sept. 25.

The Paducah, Ky., artist also will exhibit watercolor paintings that contain colors and unusual shapes similar to her ceramics.

"My approach to ceramics is non-traditional," explained Roush, "in that my background in painting and printmaking encourages the use of low-fire glazes in much the same way as I would use paint.

"My intent is sculpture, not utility pieces, and to that end each piece is hand-built with the objective of occupying that space between sculpture and painting. The images are based upon underwater figures and colors, and project metaphors on several different levels."

Roush received a bachelor of fine arts degree in painting from Northern Kentucky University and a master's degree in printmaking from the University of Cincinnati.

The artist lives in Paducah where she produces her work and manages Two Street Studio, an art gallery. She has exhibited her work extensively since 1980. In addition, she has presented workshops and lectures, taught art at the university level, worked as a printer and directed a gallery in Cincinnati.

"I feel a kinship with other ceramic artists in the sense that certain images and techniques strike a familiar chord, but my sculpture evolved from a spontaneous eruption of the need to translate my paintings into three-dimensional pieces without direct conscious influence from other ceramic artists," she said.