Lisa Ortman - Assignment #2

Victoria Christen, White Basket, 2010, 19”x15”x15”

Victoria’s work is a great example of an intricately designed coil basket.  I like the symmetrical repetitive design; it reminds me of a stiff upside-down basketball net. This piece does a really good job of using negative space; the coils fit well and create unity.  The two toned color gives more emphasis on the darker bottom than the lighter top, I think the piece would stick out more if the colors were in reversed order.    

Antonella Cimatti, Crespina, 2006, 12”x30”x30”

Antonella Cimatti’s piece is a type of slip casting mold used with porcelain paper clay.  Antonella says her forms are aesthetically accurate and displays a strong sense of the real feminine character, of grace, of elegance and of attention to detail.  This piece gives off the feeling of lightness and easiness, a very luminous white piece that has a strong presence but is also easily breakable.  I really like the idea of this piece and the intertwined negative shapes created that reflects a strong beautiful shadow.

Matthew Metz, Stepped Vase, 1990, 20.5”x4.5”x4.5”

Matthew’s piece is from his series for the, A Ceramic Continuum: Fifty Years of the Archie Bray Influence.  This stepped vase caught my eye because of its well-designed shaped vases stacked on top of each other with interesting painted scenes on each vase’s portion.  The stacked vases to create one large sculptural vessel is a great look for this piece, the shapes and sizes compliment each other and look unified.  The designs and subjects painted catch my eye, I wish I could look at this piece close, but it all seems to flow really well together for the overall presentation. 

Jamin London Tinsel, Going Deep, 2006, 19”x8”x10”

When Jamin created this form, he was thinking about words like tension, swelling, and skin, he say’s adding nipples to one of these forms was a stepping off pint for many functional sculptures.  This piece was hand built with coils, which he later added the rubber nipples.  This form caught my eye because of its abstract and funky form, it reminds me of some sort of ocean barnacle.  I think the blue colored dots help this piece standout, by spreading the view around the whole object.