Tuesday, June 29, 2010

ARTIST STATEMENT: UBIQUITY OF PATTERN

Ubiquity of Pattern.


Workin
g within the realm of functional pottery, I feel the need to be attentive to both its history and its role in society. Drawing from antiquity, I employ familiar themes such as lattices and arches, so that my work may open a dialogue between all cultures. Rather than making a historical document, I strive to create objects that embrace as well as expand on tradition .

Pattern itself is ubiquitous. Throughout culture themes of geo
metry, symmetry, and repetition have created a visual vocabulary. Operating as language, it exists as a means of communication and expression.The relationship between ornament and utilitarian objects are based on a shared function. In the same way a hand tool may serve one particular role, as well as several others, ornament can serve as decoration as well as a means of disseminating ideas.

F
orm should speak to its function, as functional objects exist through use. The language of the cup and saucer is that of the contemplative. The decision to employ a saucer is the decision to remove oneself from our culture of immediacy and enter a realm of contemplation. Similarly, the language of the jar is that of containment as well as the stationary. Fixed in its place, it remains, disappearing into the visual identity of our day to day. Yet with every passing, new elements are revealed as the surface fluctuates through the illumination of daylight to the incandescent light of the evening.




Saturday, May 15, 2010

Riding the dragon

It's been a wild ride this year, the last three weeks in particular.Last Saturday i had my BFA Thesis exhibition with painter, Maxwell L. Davis. The show went really well. The dialog created between the two bodies of work was at the very least exciting. SO... i'll have some shots of the installation up soon, along with somestudio shots of my most recent work.
Oh yea and i graduated from college today. Needless to say everything is flying by pretty fast. I've never been more energized to make new work and play around with all the new ideas i got out of that last kiln.

Igloo






This Igloo was constructed during last winter vacation, over the coarse of two days, logging over 20 hours of igloo building. Designed by Haakon Lenzi, Maxwell L. Davis, and Alex R. Williams. Special thanks to Andrew Johnson, Griffin Sherry, and Austin Richards.

March25-April 9



The following images represent two weeks of work beginning in the end of March and the beginning of April. The work was then soda fired to cone ten in a neutral atmosphere. The surfaces are a comprised of colored slips, wax resist etching, and wax resisted polychromatic glaze patterns. Photography by Mike Fleming