Elizabeth Keller, Conway, South Carolina
Email: ekeller@coastal.eduStudio Description: For a number of years I have focused strongly on building teapot sets within a sculptural tableau, a container within a container. The teapot form alone naturally invites continuous exploration of form and expression.
Particular influences on my work are Chinese Yixing pottery and penjing (Chinese bonsai) cultivation. All forms in my Penjing and related series feature highly tactile surfaces fashioned to simulate aged tree bark characteristics while the forms are modeled to resemble the convoluted shapes seen in penjing tree forms.
These works are a means for me to combine my multiple interests in containment-related sculpture, functional pottery, and horticulture. They address my love of trees, highly textured clay surfaces, and the spatial dynamics of assembling multiple parts to fit within a larger, composite whole – all while still being fully functional.
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