A large array of pots, vessels and sculptures line the Victoria H. Myhren Gallery, an exhibit of recent work by Paul Soldner, a local ceramist who is regarded as a major force in the evolution of contemporary ceramics

The exhibit continues until Feb. 27. The works span 50 years, and the abstract shapes of the sculptures stimulate the viewer’s imagination. The exhibit also includes traditional ceramic pieces such as dishes with simple designs and small pots.

The works are in the genre of American Raku. The art form is similar to the 3,000-year-old craft of Japanese Raku, but it includes Soldner’s revolutionary technique of heating a work outside the kiln and then quenching or cooling it.

Soldner claims that the pieces in the American tradition allow for more innovation as the works can be manipulated in the environment before being hardened.

The pieces currently in the gallery include the touch of Soldner’s technique of post firing and quenching.

He claims that the procedures allow for artists to be more innovative during the creative process than was the case during the production of Japanese Raku pieces.

Soldner has said that American Raku “offers Western culture insight into new concepts of beauty [with] its emphasis on symmetry and appreciation of organic naturalness.”

Soldner decided to follow his passion of ceramic art after returning from World War II.

His work embodies his belief that artists “grow with a discovery” and must “gamble with intuition.”

Over the years he has pioneered American Raku. Soldner also created several of the techniques still used by American Raku artists.

None of Soldner’s ceramics have names. A more representational piece is a plate made in 1980 depicting several individuals linking arms.

Soldner’s art has been displayed at more than 80 exhibitions, including the Chicago International New Art Forum and the Contemporary American Ceramics 1950-1990 exhibit in Japan. He has received awards from the National Association of Schools of Arts and Design in 2002 and Prix D’Honneur at the VII Biennale International de Ceramique de Art de Vallauris in France.

A roundtable lecture on American Raku will be held on Feb. 19 and will feature art professors from DU and the University of Colorado. The panel will be in Sturm Hall, room 251. It is free and open to the public.

The gallery is open from noon to 4 p.m. daily.