3D Studio Art - Ceramics
vantage
van· tage | \ ˈvan-tij
1: a position giving a strategic advantage, commanding perspective, or comprehensive view.
Engaging the viewer with multiple perspectives from a single viewpoint, Cubist artists challenged viewers to reconsider their understanding of time and space. Similarly, I hope to engage my audience by inviting them to observe my work from multiple perspectives, as a singular object and as a grouped still life, but to encourage them to experience a viewpoint where time and space converge to form a harmonious whole.
Each vase conveys a sense of completion through their functional nature, simple yet refined form, and seemingly intuitive underglaze design. Comparably constructed vases are placed in a grouping-unified by precisely calculated color and pattern to reveal an illusion that unites the foreground and background, thus defying traditional assumptions of perspective. The innate design of the individual object becomes a meditated uniting component of the grouping. The once complete singular object takes on a new life as a cohesive whole.
I chose to use complimentary warm and cool toned colors to create a clearer distinction of the vases present in the grouping. While the background and foreground become vague through the illusion of perspective, the form of the vases remain clear through contrast of color. The use of underglazes to finish my forms provides a satin surface that minimizes glare thereby reducing the highlighting of forms that I seek to camouflage.
These compositions are intended to have two lives: One as a still life and another as a functional object for presenting flowers. The sleek, simple forms and illusionistic surfaces allow the vases to exist as an extension of floral presentations both in their still life format and on their own.
Inspired by Cubism and still life traditions I create vases that reject the conventional understanding of space. Each vase can exist on their own but are truly complete when functioning together.
“Vantage”, white stoneware, 12 x 32 x 14 inches
“Vantage”, white stoneware, 12 x 32 x 14 inches
“Vantage”, white stoneware, 13 x 32 x 14 inches (displayed individually)
