Ixchel Sculpture

Born in South Dakota, USA, Daniel Slack grew up a world traveler, living in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia; along with two state side tours in San Diego and Washington D.C. Daniel currently resides on a small acreage in a semi rural area northwest of Denver, Colorado. The foreign travels shaped Daniels' approach to making art. Unencumbered by the confines of his home cultures' parameters in what constitutes art, Daniel tapped in the uninhibited expression of romantic spiritualism seen abundantly in the native artworks of faraway lands. His choices of subject matter stay in the sublime and his use of color and texture exotic and vibrant. Daniel likes to say he was tricked into choosing clay and glazes for his medium by his alluring high school teacher. While straining to please her with his creations, he found he had a facility with clay, enjoyed its' slippery sensuous mobility and was awed by its' transformation by fire. Put off by the competitive nature of scholastic art not to mention arts' impracticality in the job market, Daniel earned a degree in Forestry instead, which served him well for his Peace Corps tour in West Africa but not at all once he returned stateside. Daniel easily slid back into ceramics at a local pottery studio, then followed with a two year apprenticeship where he acquired the fundamentals of pottery making. Self taught and directed from that point forward, Daniel produced lines of functional pottery, jewelry, molded wares, decorative vessels, and for the last decade figure sculpture. During his four decade journey a few notable artists helped steer the course, started with famous Japanese "mingei" (art of the people) artist Shoji Hamada. Hamada embodied the ideal of the humble potter making quiet, handsome, functional pottery off in the countryside. And, most illuminating to Daniel, he didn't sign his work. No personal gain, no glory, no pieces in great museums, nothing. It's a zen thing which Daniel deeply respects and admires. In his own work, Daniel couldn't go that far. His work is stamped with a symbol that resembles the pi sign, the number whose decimal goes on to infinity. There are other influencers, all women: Beatrice Wood for her longevity, Betty Woodman for her flamboyant use of color, and most recently Adrien Arleo for her mythology referenced figure sculptures combining animals and people. Daniel has shown his work at exhibitions across the US garnering awards along the way.