Functional pottery contains traits that operate similarly to those of architecture. The investigation of the two subjects and their relationship dominates my work. Through the use of wall tiles, the architectural aspect of my work is reinforced. By placing vessels in the same situation as the tiles forces them to sit in a specific space and question where two dimensionality ends and three dimensionality begins. Literal and symbolic representations of the architectural constructions form clusters of pots and images into a landscape setting. Layering goes beyond the surface of a piece and into the entirety of the landscape. The result shows a collection of images, embodying structure, surface and subtleties in space
Considering these ideas, I examine how my vessels can function differently than utilitarian pottery yet, still retain the familiarity that objects of everyday use contain. When using a bowl for our meals or vases for plants, we interact with the container in a certain way that creates a comfortable relationship with the object. By creating and placing pieces such as these within my settings, I am engaging the viewer in a more intimate and personal way. This idea is what draws me to produce functional pottery.
I have found the tiles help me to translate the 2D ideas I have of collage, painting, and drawing into my ceramic pieces. From my own abstracted drawings of industrial spaces, I take interesting forms and apply them to my ceramic structural settings, as well as literally painting them on my pieces. Just as I am concerned about color placement in my drawings, color and texture becomes a major component with my ceramic work. By setting a matte glaze right next to a shiny glaze, or a dark grey color next to an off white color, I force certain parts of my pieces to sit in the foreground or recede into the background. I think much about the dissonance created between each pot because of their proximity and the conversation they have with my wall pieces.
Technically, architecture and functional pottery contain similar ideas of space, volume, and structure. Beyond these formal ideas, questions arise about specific use, placement, forms, and the environment in which they both live in. From the first time I saw Antoni Gaudi’s Casa Batllo, there was something mesmerizing about the house. Seeing it in person, I realized it wasn’t about the building by itself but its relationship to the surrounding structures that interested me. Depending on the number of objects that are in scenarios such as this, a different scene takes place. For instance, if an abandoned house sits alone in a field, surrounded only by tall grass for miles, a very different feeling is created than if that same house sat in a busy city where the proximity of the nearby buildings were somewhat overwhelming. Through ceramics, I examine why these relationships interest me.
Functional pottery contains traits that operate similarly to those of architecture. The investigation of the two subjects and their relationship dominates my work. Through the use of wall tiles, the architectural aspect of my work is reinforced. By placing vessels in the same situation as the tiles forces them to sit in a specific space and question where two dimensionality ends and three dimensionality begins. Literal and symbolic representations of the architectural constructions form clusters of pots and images into a landscape setting. Layering goes beyond the surface of a piece and into the entirety of the landscape. The result shows a collection of images, embodying structure, surface and subtleties in space
