Contributed by Jack Edson / A trip to Charles Clough’s studio, situated with his gallery and library on three floors of the historic Roycroft Print Shop in East Aurora, New York, is always inspiring. I invariably see rooms full of art from the past and find new works headed in unexpected directions. On my visit last August, his vibrant new Slotted Sculptures blew me away. Displayed on long tables labelled “Clufffalo” (the idiosyncratically spelled phonetic melding of “Clough” and “Buffalo”), they evoke playful model-train layouts and are broadly aligned with the Roycroft Movement’s legacy of handcrafted works. At the same time, they move in their own direction, using the wild color schemes and dynamic shapes of Clough’s recent paintings. The freestanding pieces urge engagement, as viewers must walk attentively around them to digest all four sides. They constitute a genuinely thrilling advance.