Carolyn Buss: Week 1: Interest in Visual Elements and Concepts

MARK PHARISOval Platter  black/red/white EARTHENWARE 2009

This platter by Mark Pharis is visually interesting because it is obvious to the viewer where the seams were put together.  He didn't take pains to cover up or heal the process of making the oval shaped slab into a slightly concave platter.  The composition of the colors on the platter is also visually interesting because the black highlights the seam rather than covering it up due to the high contrast between higher areas being light in value and the lower areas being very dark, and almost matte.

SAM CHUNG
CLOUD VASE
SLAB BUILT PORCELAIN, 2010

This cloud vase by Sam Chung is nearly symmetrical, something you would almost never see in the sky.  I am also drawn to the outlining Chung does on the curves and edges of his pieces; it gives his pieces an almost 2D look, something I really enjoy in 3D work.  I love that these pieces are shiny, too because clouds aren't smooth and shiny, nor are they clean or pure as white in our culture would suggest.

PAULA WINOKUR
GLACIER I: ALASKAN MEMORY
SLAB-BUILT PORCELAIN, 2005

This is a piece by Paula Winokur that I looked at during my beginning ceramics class here and I still absolutely love it.  I adore the infinite textures on the piece and now I wonder if she dried out the top of very wet clay and physically moved the clay, thereby creating the breaks and crevasses in the piece.  Geology, especially anything to do with glaciers, is especially appealing to me as well because they store so much information inside their frozen depths.

MARGARET BOHLS
BLUE LEAF BUTTER DISH
PORCELAIN, 2007

This butter dish is adorable.  I'm not sure if Margaret Bohls would appreciate that observation, but it is the one I choose to stand by.  The three little feet on (presumably) either side are cute and give the illusion that this piece is larger than it really is because why does a stick of butter need six feet?  It is difficult to imagine making a piece of work like this with the slab folding technique because of the detailed and precise texture on the surface.  It is probably very simple but I haven't had enough experience in clay to really make something like this happen.