A six-week kayaking excursion from Haines to Sitka was the muse for these pieces. The shapes and colors were inspired by the things that lie beneath the waves, out of sight but not out of mind.

"As I sat in the cockpit of my kayak, nothing could be seen beyond the water's surface. What lived below intrigued me and what was down there was left up to my imagination," said Jonah Wright, the 34-year-old artist, who is a self-titled "builder."

His clay pieces are much more then the traditional pot and in fact are hardly vessels at all. He combines textures that are at odds with each other and highly contrasting colors to make his pieces come alive.

"I think Jonah's work is very colorful and it leaves a lot to the imagination," said Mary Blurton, a non-degree-seeking ceramics student.

Blurton also mentioned she had often admired Wright's work and was excited about seeing his BFA thesis exhibition in the Art Gallery.

"I'm looking forward to seeing his show because I've only seen pieces and I would love to see it all come together," she said.

Wright's show will be spectacular. His design for the room is a creative and unique use of the space. He plans on hanging his handmade kayak from the ceiling, alluding to water level and fostering the feeling of being undersea.

Three of his pieces stack to a towering six feet but can stand alone as individual display pieces as well. Others are smaller and repetitive; those will be hung from the wall in the gallery to be resemblant of schooling fish. Still smaller pieces look like flowering coral polyps and will be hung from the ceiling or placed on pedestals.

The exhibit is a culmination of a solid year of effort. From his musings in his kayak he made theoretical sketches of the things he imagined beneath the surface. He then did some research and discovered that his fantasy creatures most resembled prehistoric deep-sea animals, hence the name "abstract abyss."

The finished effect will be a wondrous fantasyland of sculptural ceramic pieces, a must-see exhibition that will transform The Gallery into a life size underseascape.