Kevin Anderson

Here I’ve chosen two arrangement pieces by artist Heather May Erickson made in 2007 by using a mold and slip cast porcelain.  The arrangement is particularly intriguing to me with her use of angles and differing heights that give the pieces a sense of individuality as well as being part of a group and greatly diminished if not with their counterparts.  As pieces of functional pottery, it makes one guess which is for function and which is for decoration.  Using a brilliant white finish leaves interpretations that can range from extremely simple to angularly complex.  I find these two examples to be the most interesting.

“Dessert”, 2007

“Dessert Compotes”, 2007

The “Mallet Shaped Vase” by Harris Deller 1996 is a contrasting porcelain piece.  The technique to create this piece was wheel thrown then altered.   I find it particularly interesting due to the two white intended focal points.  And then to complicate the experience with circular lines working in contrasting fashion to one another.  The lines touching each other are like a fingerprint.  It is fun being enticed to find the all occurring pattern, but being left to not find it.  It could be interpreted as not being completed.  This piece provokes many questions for me and that is why it was chosen.

Next piece of particular interest is “Eat for Two”, made by Gwendolyn Yoppolo in 2010.  It was thrown, and then hand built.  The surface is multiple colors and what appear to be different textures.   Created as a dinnerware piece, I am again taken back by the arrangement of the piece as a whole.   The glazing process really brings out the depth of color.  It appears the handles are significantly different from each other. Perhaps this was intended by the artist, or not, either way it is a very interesting piece.