Ceramics

5 pieces

Stoneware Pipe in figure of woman

Harris’ ceramics are semi-fictional representations of the artifact, translating a sense of mystery and exoticism — as well as intricate beauty in design — to representations such as “Gastropod Fu”. A use of clay to represent metalwork developed from a technique known as reduction cooling, where the glazing process is bypassed to leave an sharp and rough exterior surface that appears akin to wrought iron. Such a transmutation offers the chance for reinterpretation and recharacterisation of ancient symbols Harris lifts from specific reference points, giving them contemporary logic.

Mixed Media 14.5"h x 12"w x 12"d Provenance: Shaw Guido Gallery, Pontiac, Michigan

Moving from a career in functional ceramic production towards contemporary, sculptural art forms, Hirondelle produces elegantly composed and minimal works that meditate on and deconstruct the structural component of the vessel — the poetic scope of ‘Go 10’ is easily equatable to contemporary functional earthenware as early Modernist marriages of style & shape, the artist often throwing complete bowls then cutting and reducing them down. The use of bright acrylic paint intends to contrast with the dull earthen tone of the natural ceramic, Hirondelle offering a simple comparison of internal and external surface.

Macpherson explores identity, navigating it through our relationship to the body and the restriction and self-imposed withdrawals away from its physicality and reality. Brought up catholic, her work utilises formal elements and icons from the religious movement — dissolving their original intent through manipulations and processes such as molding and recasting. “Antipodes” namesake is the diametric opposite of a position on earth, and Macpherson finds a lyrical metaphor for characterisation that is at once opposite and bound together — casting two versions of the madonna then fastening them together at the base. Through this the odd unbalancing of the sculptures gait (assumedly added or astutely observed by the artist) finds a new harmony and balance. Small sections of paint applied to the few uncovered parts of the body seem to heighten a sense of opposition, but the palette of red & black neutralises and shrouds any intent for complete contraposition.

Large Feelie, green granite glaze

Rose creates surreal interpretations of world culture, preferring to explore a pole to pole psychology through his distance and ‘outsider’ status in relation to historical Eastern and African culture, and that of the south pacific islands. Through observation an interpretive (often subjective and decontextualised) drawing emerges and, as with ‘Great Krishna’, cultural motif begins to merge into a central zone. The main panels (narratively Pacific and far-Eastern, respective to the double-sided format) juggle with a Chinese-like decorative element, with its interplay of dragons and a vivid red. The sculptor commonly plays with dimensions to vacillate between a 2d and 3d perspective, and here the overall flattening of the object suggests canvas or vessel equally.

Having studied under and assisted the ceramicist Edris Eckhardt, Luce shares many of the traditional traits and stylistic whims that denote a rural, often middle-American mythology. “Green Pastures” is based upon the 1930 Pulitzer winning prize play of the same name, written by Marc Connelly and depicting traditional bible tales relocated in the depression-era South from a primarily African American perspective. Luse’s ceramic singles out a pair of shepherd’s, freely expressing their forms as a single hand-shaped entity, their detail picked out in a handsome and naturally-toned set of overglaze. Glazed Ceramic Sculpture of two men holding a lamb based on a Pulitzer Prize winning play written in the 1930s by Mark Connelly