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SALT PALACE WALL
As you continue past "Maran" and enter the Salt Palace near the smaller tower, you are swept into the connecting concourse. Jun Kaneko's immense tile wall greets visitors and gives them an abstract representation of the Salt Lake valley and surrounding mountains.
Ceramic artist Kaneko's work carries a great presence with it, both physically and conceptually. The long, curving wall comprised of over 1,000 tiles is a bold and  immense work of art. Kaneko's other work tends to push the limits of the traditional size of most ceramics. His large, ceramic sculptural forms range from five to 11 feet tall. He has built ceramic walls, such as this one, covering hundreds of square feet.
This work, titled "Salt Palace Wall," is one of the largest works that Kaneko had been commissioned to create. Each tile is hand made, having been pounded repetitively to remove the memory of the clay. If this were not done, the clay would roll up on the sides when it was fired. Then, working from a small model made of photographs, Kaneko applied the glazes to each tile. After the tiles were fired in a kiln, they were shipped here and installed on this wall in the same manner you would install bathroom tile.
The pattern of the tile slowly shifts along the wall, from horizontal lines to random shapes, changing pace as the viewer walks along the wall. Kaneko states, "The powerful nature of Salt Lake City, surrounded with horizontal fields of the Great Salt Lake and desert, and the vertical environment of the Wasatch Mountains, makes Salt Lake unique in its natural environment and drama. The energy of the sunlight mixing with the horizontal and vertical elements of nature makes me dream of patterns I have never thought of before.
"People in Salt Lake have strong ideals and hopes for mankind. Since its expansion the City grew up with a balance of nature and human dignity. I hope this visual presentation of ceramic tiles will create a powerful pattern to congratulate citizens and welcome visitors to the Salt Palace."
Jun Kaneko works out of his warehouse studio in Omaha, Nebraska. He received his Master's degree from Claremont Graduate School.
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