This piece was inspired by a photo of a refugee to the US, as she awaited a reunion with other survivors. She was seated by a pyramid of cups, symbolizing hospitality and safety. I made my pyramid of cups disintegrating-- showing the era's fraying of national goodwill.
This is one of five porcelain display stands in "Sail Away." They rise above the lip of the coffin like masts on a sailing vessel.
Each simple white pot wears the shadow of a more complex pot with a handle and spout. The eye is attracted to the black image, providing a simple illusion of seeing a depicted vessel and then the actual vessel.
In the installation “Sail Away!” the Orca Pots are scattered about the coffin to provide an anchor of stoneware and black amidst the glossy white porcelain.
Cardboard box filled with shipping peanuts made of porcelain.
When I was questioning the utility of my vessels, I decorated these ladies' cups with the silhouettes of containers actually used in our culture.
Top: Porcelain replica of a contemporary plastic detergent scoop.
Bottom: Porcelain replica of a kyathos (Greek, 5th century BC)-- a dipper for wine.
Built from two plates, this rocking, double-spouted teapot is balanced by the weight of two teacups hanging from the spouts. The idea came from hanging cups on the tall display stands of “Using the Good China.”
A rebus is a puzzle combining pictures (or, in this case, objects) with letters to make a word.
tem PLATE
con tem PLATE
Perfect words for a potter.
A single plate from the much larger piece called "Find China." The plate is a contemporary interpretation of a Ming dynasty plate, where I have inserted the map of China into the floral design. I always wanted to make fine china.
Those who lived through the Trump administration may recognize the image of a redacted page of information emblazoned on this piece of crockery.
The brown specks in the white glaze come from the iron in the clay body. Hence the title: “ irony.”
I constantly set this cup aside — but could not throw it out. I guess i like puns too much — even the corny ones.
Who can do without irony?
It was my delight to place these cups on one of my display stands at the head of the coffin. A decade earlier, I had purchased the cups expressly for their logo: two hands forming a shallow cylinder, with the word Handcrafted below.
These cups are so clearly not handcrafted, providing the final irony for my meditation about a lifetime spent making things in contemporary America.
What’s inside the pine box?
Two decades of ceramic effort — mainly porcelain and some stoneware. The porcelain was my beloved Southern Ice, a super white clay body, imported from Australia and now sadly no longer available. It was glazed with Shaner’s White , which gave an icy blue cast to the work.
Both porcelain and stoneware were fired in the cone 10 gas kilns at Kirkland Art Center (Kirkland, WA) . The firings were most often overseen by Pat Colyar, KAC’s long time tech.