Ceramics Monthly: Since your residency at New Harmony Clay Project, you have been experimenting with clay drawings and multi-media collage arrangements. Can you discuss what inspired this body of work?
Kari Woolsey: Having a background in pottery, I am drawn to referencing vessels and objects found in the home. I am often inspired by still-life paintings and the everydayness of utilitarian objects. This series of work started as installations of domestic spaces filled with compilations of objects and vessels, expressing memories held through the collecting of material objects. Working in the studio during residencies encouraged me to reframe my ideas in a new way and focus on elements of line and color. These works are 2D representations of vessels through clay and are, in my mind, drawings in clay. My work has evolved to be more about the concept of what a pot is, instead of focusing on handbuilding a functional pot. I find motivation in these ways of working; from handbuilding functional pots to framed pieces. These approaches challenge how I think about the formal qualities of vessels and reverse those notions in a flat piece.
CM: The flat depiction of baskets, ubiquitous vessels of work and volume, negates their use and presses them into a space of linear design. Can you talk about your exploration of these objects and how you work with clay within a frame?
KW: The baskets in my work reference the detritus of life that accumulates in our homes. My intent in simplifying the forms to line drawings in clay is to compress their volume and highlight their line quality. There have been many iterations of surface treatments with bare terra-cotta clay, colored terra sigillata, slip transfers, and glaze. Recently, I have implemented a mixed-media element using vinyl cuts from digital drawings of baskets. I approach this body of work like a collage, making parts with no thought of the end piece in mind. When everything is out of the kiln and vinyl baskets are cut, I can work improvisationally to create compositions. The clay pieces are in the foreground of the frame, usually hovering on small wooden dowel rods to give a little depth and shadow to the piece. Accenting with cut vinyl in glossy, matte, holographic, or metallic finishes has allowed for layering in a flatter profile in slimmer frames. The compression of volume and overlapping line work references the compilation of time, memories, and objects found in our homes on a daily basis.
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Ceramics Monthly: Since your residency at New Harmony Clay Project, you have been experimenting with clay drawings and multi-media collage arrangements. Can you discuss what inspired this body of work?
Kari Woolsey: Having a background in pottery, I am drawn to referencing vessels and objects found in the home. I am often inspired by still-life paintings and the everydayness of utilitarian objects. This series of work started as installations of domestic spaces filled with compilations of objects and vessels, expressing memories held through the collecting of material objects. Working in the studio during residencies encouraged me to reframe my ideas in a new way and focus on elements of line and color. These works are 2D representations of vessels through clay and are, in my mind, drawings in clay. My work has evolved to be more about the concept of what a pot is, instead of focusing on handbuilding a functional pot. I find motivation in these ways of working; from handbuilding functional pots to framed pieces. These approaches challenge how I think about the formal qualities of vessels and reverse those notions in a flat piece.
CM: The flat depiction of baskets, ubiquitous vessels of work and volume, negates their use and presses them into a space of linear design. Can you talk about your exploration of these objects and how you work with clay within a frame?
KW: The baskets in my work reference the detritus of life that accumulates in our homes. My intent in simplifying the forms to line drawings in clay is to compress their volume and highlight their line quality. There have been many iterations of surface treatments with bare terra-cotta clay, colored terra sigillata, slip transfers, and glaze. Recently, I have implemented a mixed-media element using vinyl cuts from digital drawings of baskets. I approach this body of work like a collage, making parts with no thought of the end piece in mind. When everything is out of the kiln and vinyl baskets are cut, I can work improvisationally to create compositions. The clay pieces are in the foreground of the frame, usually hovering on small wooden dowel rods to give a little depth and shadow to the piece. Accenting with cut vinyl in glossy, matte, holographic, or metallic finishes has allowed for layering in a flatter profile in slimmer frames. The compression of volume and overlapping line work references the compilation of time, memories, and objects found in our homes on a daily basis.
Photo: Cody Tracy.
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