Clay, copper and willow branches intertwine in the latest art exhibit in the Memorial Union’s Gallery.

The one-person exhibit features the work of Pam Dennis, an artist from Ogden, and replaces the previously scheduled “Mud on the Wall” exhibit.

Dennis’ exhibit includes mixed media works ranging from a series of murals to a 9-foot sculpture comprised of willow branches, clay and copper.

The clay and willow works of art do not follow a main theme but are more an exploration of the media and techniques used, Kathy Svec, marketing coordinator for the Memorial Union, said.

“She is really taking those materials and exploring with every sort of form that you can imagine, every technique variation you can think of,” Svec said.

Dennis has been a very diverse artist, Svec said, because her current techniques are an adaptation of willow furniture making.

“She and her husband own a piece of land that borders on the Des Moines River,” Svec said. “When they learned they had willow growing on their land, they made a lot of utilitarian furniture.”

After Dennis took a workshop in clay, the willow ceased to be utilitarianism and became sculptural, Svec said.

The natural twig structures of the willow are used to enclose the clay forms Dennis creates. The clay forms have a natural feel because of the process she uses to fire them.

“The clay is fired in a pit in the ground and has a very earthy quality,” Svec said.

When firing the clay, Dennis lays the clay form in the ground and surrounds the form with combustible materials such as leaves and straw. She builds a campfire-like teepee over the pit and sets it on fire, then comes back to the pit a few days later and digs the forms out.

“Dennis has long been fascinated with the natural coloration and accidental markings that occur,” Svec said. “It’s sort of a controlled, uncontrolled process.”

The fire melts the silica content of the clay and it makes a form of glass, Svec explained.

Since the leaves and straw are burned right next to the clay surface, there is occasionally an imprint of a leaf on the surface of the clay.

“The forms she is doing now have such a sophistication about them,” Svec said. “The final forms and the ways she uses them are very refined, if you can say that about a process like this.”

Svec encourages everyone to see Dennis’ exhibit.

“It’s certainly worth a trip upstairs in the Union to see it,” Svec said. “It’s something you can go back to and look at again and again and see things you’ve never seen before.”

Pam Dennis’ multimedia exhibit will be on display through Oct. 27. Call 294-1437 for open viewing hours.