Ceramics as Theater and the Necessity of Video

Either by question or comment, people are often curious about the blending of ceramic and video that is at the heart of the Foxy-Wolff collaboration.  Partly, it is a simple matter of blending Gabe’s and my skill sets, this is just what would naturally come about from a collaboration of a  ceramist and a film …

Janet Mansfield

I was attracted to the article in Ceramics Art and Perception on Janet Mansfield (issue 92) primarily because I admire her contribution to contemporary ceramics.  She has been so very dedicated to the spread and growing acceptance of ceramic art as a respected medium.  Her legacy as a writer and editor and publisher, including the …

Wall-Paper: An Installation by Aurora Hughes Villa

Wall-paper has a pretty bad reputation among contemporary house proud decorators, yet it has so much appeal for artists.  Being passé and completely decorative is just one of the reason to use it for inspiration.  Another wonderful feature is that its broken symmetry and patterning work so well in backgrounds.  Additionally,  wall-paper is loaded with …

Minoan “Snake Goddess” Figurines

The Minoan culture, Lasting from approximately 5000 bp to 3450 bp is commonly thought of as the beginning of the group of cultures commonly referred to as Western Civilization.  Located on the island of Crete in the Mediterranean sea, the Minoan culture is known today by the many wonderful artifacts left behind following the cataclysmic …

Ceramics of Dolni Vestonice

The woman of Dolni Vestonice was discovered in the present day Czech Republic in 1925 at the site known as Dolni Vestonice. The site is located in the Pavlov hills among concentrations of loess with small amounts of clay and sand. It is from this material that the 11.5 cm figurine (Just over 4.5 inches) …

Clay Slab Sculpture

Slabs are the most versatile method for building in clay.  Dropping “slab built clay sculpture” into a search engine brings us a dazzling array of ideas, approaches and techniques.  As a ceramist, I feel somewhat comfortable working with any technique in clay, but I return again and again to slabs because they allow the greatest …

Coil Pots

This coiled vessel was made by the late potter, Maria Martinez. Maria worked in the tradition of her families village, the San Ildefanso Pueblo.  The work of Maria is notable in many ways, the first and most obvious is the elegance and mastery of the work, but possibly more significant is the way the these …

Pinch Pots

These pinch pots, by Kate Tremel, capture exactly what I love about pinched forms.  Delicately crafted, the rims become landscape and describes perfectly the action of the fingers in making.  Simple glazing accentuates the directness of form.  The only addition to these wonderful bowls, is subtraction in the form of pierced openings in the clay …

International Top 10: Lin Tianmiao

Though the relationship to ceramic with the work of artist Lin Tianmiao is not specific, I do feel it has a place in this group because of her strong commitment to the use of video in her installations and her ongoing collaboration with her husband, the video artist Wang Gongxin.  The other obvious relationship to …

International Top 10: Hayashi Shigek

It is the work itself of Japanese ceramist Hayashi Shigek that employs technology.  On the surface, the work is inspired by science fiction and manga, and the look is that of mass produced manufactured goods.   Looking deeper the work reveals strong associations with traditional Japanese ceramics and culture.   Shigek is from Tajimi City, a …