Artists from the
Tacitly Tactile
exhibit
STATEMENTS Since 1999, I have been combining hand built, press molded and occasionally slip-cast porcelain parts into vignettes of social commentary. It began by liberating the figurine from its roots in mass-production to create one-of-a-kind autobiographical narratives. Still inspired by collectible objects of wealth, and artifacts of the domestic realm, I search for stories that expose intimate secrets and prohibited topics. Ceramic decals serve as fabric adorning the figures and upholstery and as golden lines highlighting the bases. With their connections to multiplicity, the decals establish a lighter environment for the often oppressive scenes of domestic service. Originally designed for chinaware the decals objectify the figures dressing them up like their cousins, the members of the tea service. Other familiar elements in traditional figurines; scrolling ornament and delicate details work together to tell tales that dignify the feminine in sympathy and psyche. This recent series expands upon previous parodies of decorative figurines. Delving into the darker side of relationships and domestic rites, these are the twisted tales of master and servant, where the innocence of the floral-clad maid frolics with the dominance of patriarchal desire. Tricked out in frilly camouflage, these characters surface disregarding tradition to expose society’s cistern of unmentionables. My sculptures utilize the figure to explore a variety of issues such as gender, social roles and cultural perceptions. The figures reference folk tale and common literary and visual metaphors as a means to provide context and delve into our collective experience. Objects and qualities from different worlds are placed together in an attempt to address some of the incongruities that exist. The desire to understand, or at least know better, those things which mystify me is the major impetus for my art. There are those things from both the present and the past, however commonplace or seemingly without import, that are compelling and hold an emotional charge beyond what is immediately definable. By making such thing the focus of an artwork, the indefinable is brought into an arena for exploration and play, where new combinations of things possible and new insights inevitable.I am continuously fascinated by the concept of duality. Duality, of course, refers to two things that are intrinsically bound together, made of the same stuff. Yet those things are also inherently in opposition with each other. This is nothing new. Such things as lightness and darkness, and day and night, can only exist by acknowledgement of their oppositions and duality. But what I find most interesting is the way that we define one side of the duality is by describing what it is not. In other words, we can only know a thing by defining its opposite. How is it possible to describe what lightness is, for instance, without referring to the concept of darkness, or to describe what rigidity is without describing softness? These thoughts are my starting point in the act of creating. There are many types of dualities in my work. Look closely and you will find, not just the obvious binaries of male and female drawings on opposing sides of my clay vessels, but also subtler means of communicating my fascination with this two folded view of life. It is my goal that by creating multiple layers of dualities I can provoke the viewer to think about oppositions in a personal sense. I often use written text in the form of cartoon-like word bubbles, or notation-like scribbling to give the viewer clues into the unfolding stories. People I know become quirky child like representations of themselves, and fodder for true or completely bogus tales. I like to think of my work as “sweet and spicy”; not too much of either, with a good dash of humor. There is an uncertain sense of edginess or mystery that offers the viewer just enough information, so that they can extrapolate his or her own stories. As an artist, and as a member of a historically marginalized group, I find that I tend toward nontribalism. Rather than creating art that speaks of love or victimization of African Americans, I speak of the problems underlying the recognition of difference. I work on a personal, intimate level that encourages an almost private investigation of the objects that I make. This act of confrontation that encourages only a single viewer with a single object sets up a dialog, in the nature of subject-to-object relationships and becomes a metaphor for the concept of otherness.Suspended in the realm between fantasy and reality, my sculptures explore the organic processes of growth, replication, and locomotion. Deliberately ambiguous combinations of biological imagery reflect the perfect integration of form and function found in the natural world. Through an intuitive process, I allow these elements to respond to one another, creating “hybrid” forms with movement and fluidity. Porcelain is an ideal medium for my work because its white luminescence showcases rich surfaces and curvilinear components. The strength and responsiveness of this clay also enables me to achieve whimsical and delicate sculptural elements. Hidden building techniques allow my sculptures to exist in a space of seamless illusion where they appear “born” rather than “made.” Inspired by the mysteries of nature, pieces deliver an animated and fantastical view of our biological surroundings. I invite my audience to draw upon their experience and imagination, and to discover a unique reality for each piece.This installation is called Family Matters, and it consists of a large mother figure, nursing, multi-tasking, hands and head full of children. Swirling all around her are the "events" of a typical day. There's dirty socks, a "Minivan Prisoner" crazy person with a steering wheel (driving kids to piano, sports, church, playgroup, etc!). There's a serving of veggies (the amount my kids have to eat before they're allowed to have dessert), veggie burgers fighting against hamburgers (in our family we have vegetarians and carnivores), or "Wheat Bread Man" vs. "White Bread Man" (documenting the daily fight about what kind of bread goes into the lunchbox). There's Poopy Pants Girl (toilet training therapy), a cow jumping over the moon (story time all day long), "IPOD Guy" (teenagers), maternity underwear, high heels and bras, lots of crazy fun hollering creatures, "Onionbreath" and "Garlic Guy" and Broccoli Man, among other happenings of the day. And the parent figure absorbs and enjoys it in all of its crazy intense beauty! My work in clay is influenced by my earliest introduction to the discipline of making pottery. Evidence of the hand's touch is important to me, as are imagery and ideas. I create forms by pinching, throwing and coiling: all processes basic to the potter's vocabulary. The formlessness of ceramic materials offer the malleability and adaptability to other objects I find in the world. Other interests - particularly, reading and writing - bind me to recurring themes related to architecture, archetype and, more recently, landscape. The human experience of scale as defined by interior and exterior space comes into concrete form through the balance of discipline and play that I seek to establish in the studio and in life. The work that I have produced recently consists of clay sculptures and vessels, linoleum prints and combinations of clay and prints. Much of my work relies on day-to-day events that I express through a variety of images on clay and paper. Initially, I apply swirling brush strokes to the clay or linoleum surface. I then look into this expressive surface and figures and objects appear, just as people sometimes imagine objects in the clouds. By using this technique, I feel that my true feelings emerge as I carve away the images that I see. The imagery that appears on much of my work represents the psychological struggle, chaos and violence that occur in many of our lives. Some of the animal figures that reveal themselves are metaphors for different players in the circus of life. For example, the moose represents the clumsy, awkward, yet strong individual making his/her way in a beauty conscious society. The chicken and bird figures represent individuals who want to fly but are somehow caged in by society. Much of my work is very busy with a closely packed composition. These chaotic compositions represent the constant bombardment of information from structures such as family, government and religion as well as the media. These structures influence and often form perceptions of our-selves and of others. In any given day we are bombarded with an insane amount of information and people seem to be losing the ability to be able to process this information and decipher between what is right and wrong. Many of the images that we see on a day-to-day basis are quite violent and we are becoming more and more desensitized to this violence. The violent images that are portrayed on objects of every day use such as a ceramic cup, implies that we are in contact with this violence in a variety of different ways daily.The central point and emphasis of my work consists in creating figurative shapes and forms. My main focus is on human-like shapes, movement, colour and forms and a desire to portray my imagined concepts and ideas within them. I am searching for a relaxed beauty and to be able to expose the spiritual being within the form. The evolution of a sculpture is a steady development through constant irritations and setbacks. The vision of a figure must be meticulously and carefully considered through the many different processes required for its creation. For me, porcelain is the first choice of work material that comes into question. This white, unformed, smooth mass excites me and inspires my creativity allowing my fantasy free reign. During this lengthy process of forming and discovering the vibrancy within the figure, a kind of vacuum, an empty space of neutrality exists between me and the object that I am creating. Which emotion and thought should be captured and transmuted into the material I am working with?!! Thereafter, follows a period of energised activity where I work feverishly, excluding all other intrusions and activities... I must release something, break something, destroy something in order to newly define my exact idea. It is a permanent purification and revelation of a spiritual being, a shape with irrepressible tension. I am in total harmony with my work creation especially after it, having been burned, emerges as a tantalising and amazingly transformation - a juxtaposition of contradictions remains untapped!I have been a potter all my adult life. I make things with clay and I paint with clay. There are horses, dogs, chickens, and birds that share my life, a loving husband, three grown children and three grandchildren that dance in my heart. I have a garden growing wild and beautiful, filled with flowers and dried up things. Someone recently remarked as they were looking at the garden, “you must have had a wonderful garden this summer”. I thought, “no, it’s most wonderful now after the summer hail and the wind and the hot sun have done their part”. The garden’s beautiful in its maturity, falling over itself in colored disarray.In life I am most drawn to that which is decorative, celebratory and outrageous. I am touched by such joyful trimmings as architectural embellishments, garden topiary, and ornamental cuisine and confections. I believe that the ritual of “making special” can connect humankind and imbue the world with joy and beauty. I am not interested in stereotypical refinement and perfection in my work, instead I want there to be a trace of the hand. I view these traces as a gift, as a part of me “making special”. I hope to not only hand make objects used for celebration, but to also celebrate the handmade. It is from this perspective that I am most inspired to make decorative, functional pottery. My pots are made with Terra Cotta clay and formed using simple techniques like pinching, coiling and the rolling of slabs. They are covered with white slip and then painted with sweet and syrupy glazes.In my work I use ceramic vessels, tiled furniture and printmaking, either separately or combined in installations, which present narratives from a woman’s point of view. My ultimate objective is to translate my own personal experience in relation to my culture, through narrative imagery on the utilitarian ceramic form. This presentation of personal narrative on ceramics through satirical humor, irony and sarcasm allows me to both celebrate and poke fun at my gender as well as myself. |
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For More Information Contact: Ellen Chisdes Neuberg, Owner/Director GalleriE CHIZ 5831 Ellsworth Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15232 Tel: 412-441-6005 FAX: 412-661-5662 Internet: galchiz@hotmail.com |
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