Carolyn Buss: Assignment #2

Lesley Baker, Wall of Sighs, 2006, 35"x54"x9"

Lesley Baker's work is in the vein of architectural, or at least that is what her series is called in which this piece belongs.  I love the repeated, stacking form in this work and the surface treatments give the viewer a sense of unity because they all share the same color scheme and quality of line.  It is called Wall of Sighs and it makes me imagine a stylized version of when someone exhales in the cold.  The forms are also quite similar, but there are two distinctly different shapes which stack and snuggle nicely.  They seem puffy and I'd love to hold a sigh in my hands.

Harris Deller, Surpressed Volume Series, Porcelaine, 14"x8"x3", 2010

This piece by Harris Deller is very simple, but I really like it.  The contrast of hard edges on this soft smooth form creates a contrast that I am absolutely attracted to.  The composition of the piece makes it seem heavy on the left though because of how dark it is, with the white being toward the inside of the curve.  I'm afraid it will fall over!

Gwendolyn Yoppolo, Strain, Porcelain, 3"x5"x3", 2010

This piece was more than likely thrown, but the strainer seems to have been made using the slump mold technique.  It seems likely that that is the case because the strainer seems to fit quite nicely with the curve of the bowl and the edges match up in such a nice way.  I love Gwendolyn Yoppolo's utilitarian objects, she even has an egg separator!  While these objects could also have other connotations about separation and strain, they certainly seem to be about utilitarian means.

Heather Mae Erickson, Dessert Compotes, Slipcast Porcelain, 2007

Heather Mae Erickson creates some beautiful utilitarian objects out of slip cast porcelain.  According to her artist statement, one of the questions she seeks to answer with her work is " what about a table setting needs to be purely functional, what is decorative, 

how much of the two should be brought together?"  I believe her table settings are lovely and elegant with just the right amount of decoration so that someone buying these things would actually use them and not be intimidated by them.