"Ceramics Now" installation

Sindy Butz, "Requiem for a Speleothem," stoneware (paper clay), glaze, 20198.25” x 8.25” x 13”

Sindy Butz, "Water Lily," stoneware, glaze, 2019, 4.5” x 11” x 11”

Malene Barnett, "Carved Forest," stoneware, glaze, 2020, 12” x 18”

Malene Barnett, "I See You," stoneware, underglaze, glaze, wax resist, 2020, 8” x 15”

Malene Barnett, "Adire II," stoneware, glaze, underglaze, wax resist, 2020, 7” x 17”

Donna Green, "Desire," stoneware, glaze, 2019, 25” x 20”

Donna Green, "Oblivion," stoneware, glaze, 2019, 30” x 24”

Donna Green, "Oblivion" (detail), stoneware, glaze, 2019, 30” x 24”

Phoenix Lindsey-Hall, "Sign of the Times," ceramic, 62” x 22” x 5", 2019

Phoenix Lindsey-Hall, "The Night Everything Changed," ceramic, 12.5" x 17”, 2019

Phoenix Lindsey-Hall, "This is a Raided Premises," ceramic, 22 x 22", 2019

Kari Marboe, "Doppelgangers," porcelain paper clay, glaze 9” x 4” x 5”; 5.75” x 6” x 4”; 7.5” x 5” x 6”, 2019 One artwork by Daniel Rhodes in the Greenwich House Pottery Collection is from 1960 and has the title “Fish face. Jack Dempsey, whale pot. It’s a whale of a pot! Piranha pot!”. This is an unusual title for Rhodes’ practice, as is the squished basketball shape of the piece with the most distinct feature being the mouthlike slit on one side. There are two condition reports that accompany the vessel’s photographs. One recalls the state of the piece as being “excellent” while the other is noted as “good.” I let the sentiment of the words, as well as new combinations, guide the forms of my next round of sculptures. Out came a series of fin-covered, looping sculptures. I used the porcelain paper clay as a nod to the development and use of additives Daniel Rhodes is known for using in his work and also speaks about in Clay and Glazes for the Potter. The porcelain paper clay recipe and technique was shared with me by Lisa Chicoyne, artist and instructor at Greenwich House Pottery, while we had lunch a few blocks from the studio last summer.

Kari Marboe, "Doppelgangers" (Detail), porcelain paper clay, glaze, 9” x 4” x 5”, 2019

Kari Marboe, "Impression," stoneware, glaze, 7.5” x 9”, 2019 In March 2019 I traveled to Alfred University in upstate New York where Daniel Rhodes received his MFA and taught from 1947-1973. After an introduction from Michael Swaine, who did his BFA at Alfred, I met and stayed with Andrea and John Gill, two artists and Alfred professors. Andrea and John’s kindness and intelligence resides within every object and every surface of their house. "Impression" is based on conversations I had with John Gill in his green room adjacent to the kitchen and in the car when he took me on a tour of the area. We spoke about form, Rhodes, Alfred, diners, history, laundry, and stretching yourself to get to your ceramics. He told me not to be timid about getting there. "I believe that it is important for artists not to make a premature commitment to a narrowed objective before they are ready. Granted, such a commitment may make the work more easily recognized, but a narrowing of focus should come from inner necessity rather than from calculation. Worst of all is the temptation to tailor one’s work to some au courant image which later may prove to be uncongenial. I regret now that I didn’t dig deeper into some of the various promising mines that I opened up. But in art one must follow one’s hunches." -Daniel Rhodes, Ceramics Monthly, September 1987