Artists' Statements

Words and Clay

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… is a reflection on and celebration of having lived and living, with references to childhood and the various life stages one experiences. It is a nod to how language shapes my life, and what I hope to be an intriguing interplay between language and art. While the female sculptures here enact a concept, some of the functional pottery literally has words written into the clay.

 

Since I’m a retired English teacher turned ceramics dabbler, I have always thought work with words or clay seems ironically similar—both flexible, creative, moveable. Even after words are printed, and clay fired and fixed—both are still open to a host of “readings.”

 

The processes of writing and creating with clay also seem parallel to me, since both are about thinking, drafting, developing, revising and editing. Importantly, it’s discovery as I work— that mind/hand collaboration—writing or shaping, looking back and forward simultaneously.

 

My clay work is concept driven, word-connected, and also highly influenced by the world/culture in which we are immersed. My sculptures of women have always and continue to represent females situated in and navigating a complex world. Several of the pieces here represent many different life stages, and since they were created in the past two years—a time of isolation and worry, responses to present goings on can be apparent. 

 

Quirky, strange, eclectic, whimsical— language is what we have to describe, interpret, understand. Can clay function in those ways too?

 

Mary Bauer

2022