The Pandemic that began in 2020 provided plenty of studio time, but influenced the themes of my work. Absence and the effort to manage a sense of negativity came into play.
Absence
“Tombstone for a Vessel Maker” was created shortly after “Sail Away!” was installed at the Schack Art Center. It was a fitting follow-up to the coffin stuffed with vessels.
The beginning of the Pandemic was showing us our vulnerability. Never had I been more aware of the possibility of my imminent absence. In “Tombstone for a Vessel Maker,” not only is the maker (me) gone, so is the vessel — leaving an empty but pleasing silhouette of a classic gourd-shaped vase. In my cheerful narrative, loved ones who remain have visited my grave to chat with each other and my absent self. They have shared cups of tea and left their cups behind, sitting on the tombstone.
Following in that theme of absence/negative space is “Empty Cup Ewer,” — a pouring vessel whose shape is based on my cup mold. Volume equals the narrow area around an empty cup. Yet, amazingly, the ewer fills one tea cup made from that mold.
“Not with a K” tackles the miasma of negativity associated with pandemic and lock-down. It chronicles the daily effort to turn a generalized ”not” into something else…add a “K” and “not” becomes “knot,” — a thing, not a negative. It’s a bit of language alchemy.
“Not with a K” never materialized into an envisioned display stand — how fitting for the theme of Absence! — but it did leave behind artifacts.