Skip to main content

Visit Main Menu Block

  • Hours & Admission
  • Accessibility & Amenities
  • Tours & Group Visits
  • Visitor Guidelines

Exhibitions and Events Main Menu Block

  • Exhibitions
  • Events

Art and Design Main Menu Block

  • Collection
  • Collection Research
  • Past Exhibitions
  • Watch / Listen / Read

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum
Previous image 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 / 10 Next image
  •  Diagonal view of an abstract, gray, rectangular form. A row of horizontal knots are laced across sides of the front periphery. The backside is rounded featuring a row of forms.
  •  Back view of a gray industrial-like ceramic cylinder with ten large vertically aligned loops threaded through and protruding from the center.
  • Diagonal back view of a gray industrial-like cylinder with one flat periphery. Ten large vertically aligned loops are threaded through and protruding from the rounded back side
  • Side view of an abstract, gray, cylindrical form with a front flat periphery featuring spiral-like knots. A row of evenly spaced horizontal protruding loops are threaded through the opposite side.
  • Side view of an abstract, gray, cylindrical form with a front flat periphery featuring spiral-like knots. A row of evenly spaced horizontal protruding loops are threaded through the opposite side.
  •  Back view of a gray industrial-like cylinder with one flat periphery. Ten large vertically aligned loops are threaded through and protruding from the rounded back side
  •  Diagonal view of an abstract, gray, rectangular form. A row of knots are laced across sides of the front periphery. The backside is rounded with a row of protruding forms.
  •  Front view of an abstract, gray, industrial-like, rectangular ceramic form. A row of knots are laced across sides of the front flat periphery with a centered rectangular cavity in between.
  • A top-down view of a circular, gray, open-top, ceramic sculpture. Interlaced coils are threaded through the center and protrude from facing sides. One side features knots while the other, loops.
  • A small imprint on a beige ceramic surface. It features a decal that resembles an overlaid and reflected “P” and “B” enclosed in a circle and filled with black glaze.

Paul Briggs

Bridges (Poetry Series, after The Hill We Climb--Amanda Gorman)
Now On View Recent Acquisition

Maker

Paul Briggs (American, b. 1963 in Beacon, New York)

Title

Bridges (Poetry Series, after The Hill We Climb--Amanda Gorman)

Year

2021

Medium

  • Stoneware with glaze

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Stoneware with glaze

Dimensions

16 x 6.5 x 22.9 cm (6 5/16 x 2 9/16 x 9 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Mary B. Jackson Fund

Object Number

2022.83.1

Type

  • Ceramics

Exhibition History

Art and Design from 1900 to Now
Jun 04, 2022 – Dec 01, 2030

Label copy

Paul Briggs summons his experiences in art, education, and theology to create work that speaks to oppression, pain, and healing. Named after two generations of Black American poets, these ceramic works speak to systemic social injustice and the strength to persevere. Briggs cut through these vessels with knotted coils both to reveal injury and emphasize resistance. He explains, “These vessels are pierced by pain. But they are still strong structures—the knots are holding them together. We all have knots.”

–Elizabeth Williams, David and Peggy Rockefeller Curator of Decorative Arts and Design

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

In copyright This object is in copyright

Tombstone

Paul Briggs (American, b. 1963 in Beacon, New York)
Bridges (Poetry Series, after The Hill We Climb--Amanda Gorman) , 2021
Stoneware with glaze
16 x 6.5 x 22.9 cm (6 5/16 x 2 9/16 x 9 inches)
Mary B. Jackson Fund 2022.83.1

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum

Footer Main Navigation

  • Visit

    • Hours & Admission
    • Accessibility & Amenities
    • Tours & Group Visits
    • Visitor Guidelines
  • Art & Design

    • Collection Research
    • Collection
    • Past Exhibitions
  • Join / Give

    • Become a Member
    • Give
  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Events
  • Watch / Listen / Read

    • The Latest
    • Publications
    • Articles
    • Audio & Video

Footer Secondary Navigation

  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Image Request
  • Press Office
  • Rent the Museum
  • Terms of Use
Tickets
Homepage
Go to the risd.edu homepage. This link will open in a new window.