Reacquainted...

I am currently re-evaluating and re-visiting writings from a few years back...with the thoughts of possibly re-investing more time in to these ideas. Although, I am very involved in the utilitarian side of ceramics right now...I am wondering if I have let my other clay dreams wander too long in the corners of my dusty brain. I am feeling a need for something a little different right now...just not sure what it is...ever get like that...is this a little pre-mid-life crisis?

The above image is a piece I finished this summer...I thought I had finished it before, in fact you can see it in my blog archives back in March ...but now, I am sure it is finished. Below is a paragraph that I wrote several years ago...it seems to fit this piece "utt(dd)erly" well. The quotes are from my exploration into the possibility of new sculptural work. Above are a few details too...click to enlarge.

The Necessity of a hybrid object that spans the gap between reality and concept as well as between pottery and sculpture becomes clear. Because it is from this "in between" space that mends the existing disparity within the medium of ceramics and eliminates any hierarchy. It is also important to understand that the term "function" means more than just an object's utilitarian aspects and that there is value in more than just an object's "usefulness". I believe this understanding of ceramics is not one that shirks its traditions and histories in favor of trends, but rather, re-imagines the past much like we as humans do, fragmentary and incomplete, leaving room for new interpretations that expand the medium.

"...it is obvious that our dependence upon things has something more than their utilitarian value at its base. From birth to death, we draw all sorts of emotional sustenance from them ."

- Salman Akhtar, "Objects of Our Desires"

"Even to begin to represent the past, we must recreate a collage of recollections, which overlap and collide with each other."

- Janelle Wilson, "Nostalgia: Sanctuary of Meaning"

...more to come?