Transcript Salt and Pepper - Linda Arbuckle Ceramics

Salt and Pepper
Featuring artists from Baltimore Clayworks’ exhibition An
Extravagance of Salt & Pepper curated by Gail M. Brown
May 6 - June 4, 2006
AN EXTRAVAGANCE of "SALT & PEPPER": containers, shakers, concepts
CURATORS STATEMENT
Certain objects and forms are commonly thought of in pairs. The resonance of the
words- hammer and nails, cup and saucer, meatballs and spaghetti easily come to mind.
So, too, with "salt and pepper." As pairs of now totally common flavor enhancement and
couples of containment, they evoke a gamut of visual images as well as conjure up the
ubiquitous set on the oilcloth covered kitchen table of our collective memories.
Why are they so evocative as terms and objects? And, usually so commonplace?
Verbally, they evoke a complementary yin and yang, a point/counterpoint. Visually, they
do the same - from mass produced anonymity to the dubious license taken in un-poetic
forms of kitsch cats and dogies, inane tourist souvenirs or those ever so elegant
matching accessories for fine china dinner services.
pep.per-and-salt
pe-par (-a)n (d) -solt
adj (1774)
salt cellar and pepper box: a small usually cylindrical box or bottle with a perforated top
used for sprinkling salt or pepper on food at the table.
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition.
The word in point is usually. The format and the function can also become a highly personal
form of unlimited domestic kinds and unexpected adventures in imagination. As long as it
can hold, convey and dispense, the potential of unique vessels offers a personal challenge
to inspired potters, sculptors and audience alike. And clay always seems a particularly
amenable medium for unlimited flights of fancy!
In the creative hands of potters and artists, all expectations can be seasoned with "the
unexpected." I invited a panoply of ingenious makers to pour their ideas onto the project.
To season with the personal approach. To grind out some surprises. To revel in the
possibilities of extravagant contrasts, complements and pairs. To think about hand scale,
usage and the tactile experience. To muse on utility, to think form, content, sculpture
or metaphor, often with added pinches of wit, humor and personal message. Some make
unique functional ware, some focus on sculptural forms and vessels, some share narrative
points of view. All address the world around us- in objects for use, beauty, decoration
and/or forms of observation and commentary in far from the usual ways.
“An Extravagance of Salt & Pepper as containers/shakers/concepts“ will surely explore a
gamut of extreme possibilities to attract and engage us.
Gail M. Brown
Guest Curator
Wesley Anderegg:
Salt Box
At the dawn of mankind primitive
peoples fashioned clay objects. They
sculpted about what they knew and
wanted. Pregnant women and nimals
were the hot topics of the day. I think
of my work much the same way.
Though the topics may be different I
feel a link to those old people sitting
around playing with this beautifully
plastic material.
Ian Anderson:
Salt and Pepper w Stand
My primary inspiration is message and
narrative. Poetry, politics, and propaganda
are all influences. The idea of the
monument/memorial partitions off a
cultural space which is considered sacred
and/or contemplative. I have in mind
national war memorials, but I am
particularly interested in memorials which
remind us of our collective fallibility. At
play then in much of my work is a
discussion about memory: historical,
national, and personal. Many of my pieces
are both sacred and profane, high art and
kitsch. They are the consumable items that
they claim to critique: metaphors for and
containers of materialism. I am trying to
create contemplative and seductive work
that carries messages which are
alternatively meaningful, powerful, and
revelatory.
Linda Arbuckle:
Salt and Pepper: White Bloom and Leaf
The tradition and interpretation of the
functional vessel bring experiences
through the functional art object into one’s
daily life. Line, color, gesture, and the lure
of materiality articulate the value of
indulgence and the transience of (plant)
life. The alchemy that transforms common
terracotta clay into an object that speaks in
a domestic setting points the way toward
parallel transformations possible in the
observed moments of personal life.
Mary Barranger:
Paired Shakers
Salt and pepper is a pairing that intrigues
because of its utter familiarity (those tiny
twin towers on restaurant tables!) and its
potential for riffs on the whole idea of
pairs and sets. Linked yet not the same,
they lead the mind to other twosomes, and
to ponder: what makes things belong
together? And how to speak of that
belonging-together while also honoring the
stubbornly individual character of the
parts? Tasty questions indeed to carry into
the studio.
Justyna Benton
I am seduced by the gritty, sandy, yet
delicate texture of the table salt and the
brittle, crunchy feel of the kosher salt
crushed between my fingertips. I savor the
supple plump roundness of green pepper
corns with their smooth almost waxy
surface and the contrasting dry and
shriveled skin of black pepper corns falling
out of my hand. I delight in the tactile and
tangible qualities the spices have to offer
upon closer examination. I do not own a
salt or pepper shaker. I need to touch and
physically experience the spices I use. I
revel in the sensuality of the diverse salt
and pepper varieties as I lean over a pot of
hot steaming soup, gradually adding my
seasonings, reluctantly letting them leave
my hands. They offer a lot more to the
senses than flavor and aroma.
Karl Borgeson:
Salt & Pepper Containers for Stovetop Use
I restrict my color palette by keeping
materials to a minimum using two clays
(stoneware and porcelain), four slips and
three glazes. Surface embellishment, when
employed, incorporates basket weave
imagery, checkerboard patterns or parallel
lines. Juxtaposed subtle surface variation
and texture is achieved by firing with wood
and the introduction of a small amount of
salt.
George Bowes:
Katrina and Wilma
Living for the first time in a tourist
destination city Galveston, Texas, a barrier
island in the Gulf of Mexico, he began to
think about souvenirs salt and pepper
shakers. Unfortunately, one can still find
many racist souvenirs from confederate
flags to "black face" figurines. Watching
hurricane Katrina and its aftermath the
problems of racial inequality in this country
was glaringly exposed. Having recently
lived through a very active hurricane
season including one mandatory
evacuation he wanted to make a salt and
pepper set addressing how at times natural
disaster scan exposed human ills.
Andy Brayman:
Salt and Pepper Shakers on Black Tray
An unusual embrace of the Modernist
idiom, form follows function, is held. Many
of the forms stray away from traditional
pottery shapes while maintaining all the
requirements for use. There is an emphasis
on unconventional forms, but with
practical use in mind. Objects such as
vases, salt and pepper shakers and fruit
bowls are clearly meant to be used.
Dining has the potential to be a time and
space for the intellect and the sensory to
blend--where words, aromas, tastes and
thoughts inevitably mix, each influencing
the other. These centerpieces set the stage
for this mix to take place.
Jeffrey Chapp:
Salt and pepper shakers are objects that occupy a
familiar spot in our daily existence-utilitarian
fixtures that sit on our tables and reside in our
Improvised Iraq War Commemorative kitchens, and charm their way into our homes as a
collectable commodity reflecting our obsessive
Salt & Pepper Shakers
desire to possess material culture memorabilia.
Although usually stylish, banal or humorous in
design, some salt and pepper shakers speak to
prevailing social conditions through advertising or
mass media imagery, or as a revelation of racist,
classism, or sexist attitudes.
My works comment on American culture, politics,
and global events, while steadfastly retaining the
identity of visually appealing objects. They are a
personal and progressive testimony to what I take in
of the world around me: a commemorative record
of a place in time, an historical event, or a specific
observation on contemporary life. I pay deliberate
attention to surface detail, well-crafted modeling,
and intimate scale, so my messages hit with a velvet
glove. With duality as an ever-present theme, I find
salt and pepper shakers an appropriate metaphor to
explore issues like war and peace, right and wrong,
and good and evil.
Bruce Cochrane:
Salt and Pepper Brick
After 25 years of working in clay, utility
continues to serve as the foundation for
my ideas. The pots I make, no matter how
simple or complex, are meant to be
experienced on a physical and visual level.
The way an object caries, lifts, cradles,
pours and contains are properties which I
strive to make engaging for the user,
offering more than just convenience. I
explore and develop ideas through working
in multiples. Concentrating my efforts on a
specific series of forms allows me to define
and clarify my thoughts as well as solve
problems in sequential order.
Cynthia Consentino: Wolf and Rabbit Girl
Wolf and rabbit imagery find their origins
in a study I read many years ago. Children
were asked to name an animal that was
most like themselves. Girls answered the
names of cuddly, passive, even stuffed
animals (one girl said a flower), while the
boys responded with more aggressive,
predatory animals.
Deirdre Daw:
Salt of the Earth
It's horrifying to find that a majority of
Americans now believe that torture is
acceptable as long as it is helping to "keep
Americans safe". The justification of
torture for any reason is absolutely
soulless, immoral and ignorant. Like the
black pepper and white salt, Enemy
combatants are Evil and Americans are
Good, the same kind of Black/White,
Evil/Good thinking behind the justification
of torture. Ironically, George Bush is
perceived by many as a good guy-"the salt
of the earth "- which contrasts greatly with
his employment of torture, secret prisons,
and illegal spying on Americans.
Josh Deweese:
Salt and Pepper Set
I am interested in how pots can be used
every day to bring art into our lives,
enhancing our experience with food,
adorning our homes, and providing a
necessary ritual to nourish our soul and
mind as well as our bodies. I try to make
pottery that is successful in several ways;
comfortable to use, enjoyable to look at,
and interesting to think about. The Salt and
Pepper set is a new format for me. I enjoy
the idea of pairs. It is yet one more
opportunity for expression that can
become a part of a daily domestic ritual.
Marc Digeros:
Salt and Pepper with Basket, 2006
My pieces are hand-built using thin slabs to
construct walls that wrap around slumpmolded bases. As I build, I try to leave clues
as to how my pieces have been
constructed, such as seams and other
marks that result from my hands and tools
touching the clay. Similarly, I design and
glaze my pieces with the understanding
that the kiln will often transform my
perfecting tendencies into happy accidents
that can't always be reproduced. Many
times it is this unforeseeable outcome that
fuels my desire to create.
Kowkie Durst:
Salt and Pepper
I imagine my pots in someone's home,
tossed from sink to table to shelf. I want
them to live with someone and become a
part of their everyday life. The physical
connection-lips, hands, eyes-that engages
a user with the object is essential to the
creation of meaning for pottery. My
approach to clay enacts my passion for the
material and exposes the physical nature
of my own existence. My understanding of
the power of images to translate history
and stories has deepened through my
study of petroglyphs. The drawings on my
pots are rendered as cartoon-like
abstractions of our contemporary cultural
icons, which I use to narrate our intimate
relationship with everyday objects as well
as to capture everyday moments that may
sometimes be overlooked.
Heather Mae
Ericson:
Sprinkle
My work discusses the coupling of design with traditional
techniques of wheel-thrown porcelain and industrial
techniques of plaster molds. I deal with the meal and objects
used on the table. I am interested in implications found not
only in the utilization of the ware, but also in various
methods of storage and presentation. When creating I deal
with all stages of an object's existence, such as storage,
display, rituals, and etiquette. I explore the possibility of
changing the way we treat the vital ritual of dining. I seek to
direct the eye, hand, and mouth to treat food differently. I
create ware that raises awareness of the situation and
sparks contemplation before devouring the elements. I am
not sure how far objects can be manipulated before the
average person needs education for utilization. I am
interested in making new objects that comment on the past,
the now, and the future. Questions I explore are: what about
a table setting needs to be purely functional, what is
decorative, how much of the two should be brought
together? Why do objects come to look and function as they
do? How should an object feel in the hand? How does a
single piece interact with the others in the setting or on the
table? What does it do to the art when food comes into
play? How much can an artist be involved in how an owner
displays, uses, and cares for an object? I believe through
qualities of the work some of the outcome can be placed
upon an object by the creator.
Kathryn Finnerty
Deborah Fritts:
Abundance
We are fortunate to be part of a rich and
prosperous society. So many times, the
simple gifts are taken for granted and
overlooked. Due to commercialism, we
supersize our life.
Unfortunately, this leads to extravagance
and wastefulness. We should simplify-slow down--respect nature—and celebrate
true living.
Julia Galloway:
Salt and Pepper Fruit
I am interested in pottery that is joyous,
intimate and weaves into our daily lives
though use and decoration. The
composition of work comes from
architecture, human form and natural
structure found in plants. The surface
decoration of a lettering system or floral
patterns establishes structure and mystery,
order and secrets. I am most curious when
my pots support our intimate rituals of
nourishment and celebration, and have
inherent internal dialogue within the work
itself.
Rebecca Harvey:
Sheep
I have a great love for the strange little bits
of domestic imagery in the world,
wallpaper patterns, plastic farm animals objects abstracted, so far removed from
their original scale, meaning and material
to make their reassignation improbable at
best. I have a box sitting on my desk in my
studio - I pull it out every once in a while –
the shapes are simplistic to the point of
being crude, a single color, red or black or
a strange tan rooted to their little
rectangle of plastic - Proust's limbic
madeliness.
Bryan Hopkins:
Salt and Pepper on Stand
Following in the lineage of "fine china" I
produce objects for domestic service, adding
my own sense of affect and defect. Piercing,
tears, cut-outs and perforations toy with the
archetype of the clay pot as container and
call to question one's idea of function. The
work is heavily indebted to the implicit
qualities of the material used in its creation Porcelain. Indeed, when you think of
porcelain you first consider its physical
qualities (strength, fragility, translucence),
then porcelain's class association and cultural
significance. Acting to contain the tangible
when in use and the intangible (light,
shadow) when on display, these pots are ever
functioning in their intended environment:
the home.
Italy:
Salt Cellar
Majolica on terracotta. 17th c. Victoria and
Albert Museum, London.
Jackie Johnson:
Myxoid Salt & Pepper
UF BFA alum, MFA Univ of Massachusetts,
Dartmouth. Jackie also has a Bachelor of
Science degree in Biology.
Of all the parts of the body, the soft organs
are the most vulnerable to decay. It is the
part of us that degrades first. The softest
parts are the most defenseless yet hold the
key to defending our bodies. I would like
my artwork to stimulate thoughts about
the visceral. This includes the involuntary
control we have over the insides of our
bodies. To become aware leads us to sense
our internal beings. When creating salt and
pepper shakers, I consider the functional
use of a sculptural object. How the pair
relate to each other, to the tray, and then
the entire relationship to the food. I prefer
my forms to be unconventional and
unsettling in the functional sense.
Jeremy Kane:
TB Salt and Pepper
Through the use of historical techniques and
found objects I narrate my thoughts on the
culture in which I grew up. These ideas stem
from the variety of thoughts that occur when
associating amongst many "types" of people.
My pieces are sturdy and often modified with
chrome additions, rubber and metal to pay
homage to trucks, antiques and industrial
design. They contain bright colors and
narratives about specifically American
attributes. They embody everyday common
images. Just as the willow pattern is specific to
china, the images I choose are American.
Semi-trucks, flames, American flags, mud-flap
ladies and humorous phrases are
appropriated on the forms. The images are
proud, similar to
stickers plastered against and old instrument
case or on the bumper of a family station
wagon. These are souvenirs
and icons of American culture.
James Klueg:
Salt/Pepper Set
I try to make smart art pottery that
could only be made in the present, that
reflects my personal voice and that has
at least something to say on various
levels to diverse visual audiences.
Jim Lawton:
Quotation Marks S & P
Like the tailor, the approach I take in
making pots is to configure enclosures- to
contain as well as to reveal within the work
the eccentric shape of human life. It is my
view that meaning is held on both sides of
these fabrics: an inner life of use and the
outer one of appearance. It is not
incongruent to me that clay and carnal
bodies share certain elemental
connections: pottery possessing the ability
to describe the human condition while
simultaneously being a part of it. Simple
objects, such as a condiment dish or salt &
pepper shakers seem to me to be ideal
places for these eccentricities to be
reflected.
Farraday Newsome:
Persephone’s Year Salt and Pepper
This salt and pepper shaker is conceived as
Persephone‘s Year in consideration of the life
of light and dark that defines the Persephone
myth. The Greek goddess Persephone spent
half of the year as the Queen of Death in the
underworld, which was experienced as fall
and winter on Earth. She spent the other half
of the year on Earth's surface, and thus the
seasons of spring and summer. This myth
addresses the subject of our human
experiences of duality: light and dark, life and
death, happiness and grief. It has been
enjoyable to interpret this big idea on a
humble form.
Neil Patterson:
Brancusi Pepper and Salt
Neil makes pots that are designed to be
used and enjoyed. Through their carefully
considered volume, weight, surface and
textures he hopes to provide a slow, savory
experience for the user. There is always an
evidence of the soft material, clay, often
bolstered by a formal or architectural
structure. He knows that to have an
intimate connection to the hand formed
object is vital to a full life. To experience
the touch of a potters hand while savoring
a cup of coffee or a bowl of soup is one of
life's sublime pleasures. This Salt and
pepper shaker set, like most of my work, is
wheel thrown and altered. Stoneware clay
fired to cone six in oxidation.
Kevin Snipes:
Salt and Pepper Box
I am continuously fascinated by the concept of
duality: to two things intrinsically bound together,
made of the same stuff, yet that are also
inherently in opposition with each other. Such
things as 'lightness and darkness' and 'day and
night' exist in duality. But what I find most
interesting is the way that we define one side of
the duality by describing what it is not. How is it
possible to describe what lightness is, for instance,
without referring to the concept of darkness, or to
describe what rigidity is without describing
softness? These thoughts are my starting point in
the act of creating. It is my goal that, by creating
multiple layers of dualities, I can develop
provocative narratives in each piece.
I like to think of my work as 'sweet and spicy,' not
too much of either, with a good dash of humor.
There is an uncertain sense of edginess or mystery
that offers viewers just enough information to be
able to extrapolate their own stories. I work on a
personal, intimate level that encourages an almost
private investigation of the objects that I make.
Shoko Teruyama:
Salt and Pepper Bowls w Spoons
Sacredness plays an important role in my work.
Each vessel is made to preserve specific objects
and memories determined by the owner. I am
interested in how the collaboration of my work
and personal objects engages nostalgia. Many
people have kept a favorite stone from a river, a
worn out piece of glass from the ocean, a
smooth twig from the woods, or some object
connected to a time and place. My boxes and
bowls honor these objects and together they
become sacred. Memories are unique in
perspective. Individuals preserve them in many
formats. These vessels hold what is collected.
They save experiences and recollection.