My work is grounded in an abiding interest in historical vessel forms, and in the social context of these objects. My methodology for creating new work often begins with a study of a particular set of historical vessels. I strive to identify a set of physical, formal attributes of these objects that visually communicate something about the culture that produced them or the era during which they were created. I do this through a close visual examination of the objects and by making drawings of the objects. In these drawings I attempt to distill the objects down to what I consider to be their critical visual and formal characteristics. These drawings become the basis for the creation of a series of ceramic forms of my own.
The “Italian” series is based on an examination of several types of historical ceramics produced on the Italian peninsula: Etruscan Bucchero and Impasto ware, Medici Porcelain, and Italian Majolica Antica. After traveling to Italy and London and visiting a number of museum collections, I have spent the last year producing drawings and vessels based on my understanding of these forms and the particular form language embedded in them. These particular groupings of vessels are based on objects from the Villanovan and Etruscan civilizations, both the courser Impasto ware and the more refined Bucchero ware, and on vessels from ancient Apulia on the southeastern part of the Italian peninsula. These still-life-like groupings in some ways mimic the didactic, catalogic museum installations I have been studying. I see these pieces as sculptural “sketches” or studies.
Bucchero, stoneware, 2021, 4’ h x 6’ w x 2.5’ d
Apulia, stoneware, 2020, 4.5’ h x 7’ w x 2.5’ d
Etruria, stoneware and earthenware, 2020, 5’ h x 9’ w x 3’ d