A Shared Journey
Ceramics Gallery (WA 407), Decorative Arts and Design
Introduction
Remarkably versatile and available around the world, clay has been used by makers for thousands of years. This soft, malleable earth can be shaped into an infinite variety of objects, then transformed by heat into something hard and durable.
Yet, if you think about ceramics, what comes to mind? A teapot, or perhaps a plate? Clay—whether earthenware, stoneware, or porcelain—is typically used to make small functional objects. But why not create something big, bold, and sculptural from clay?
Artists working in the field of ceramics in the 1950s responded to this challenge in powerful and innovative ways. Peter Voulkos, who radically pushed clay beyond the functional, said, “Wielding clay is magic. The minute you touch it, it moves, so you’ve got to move with it. I always work standing up, so I can move my body around. I don’t sit and make dainty things.”
Made by nearly 40 artists, the objects in this exhibition present the undeniable embrace of clay as a viable medium for contemporary art. This trajectory continues to gather strength today. Paralleling artists’ expanding approach to ceramics, Hope and Mel Barkan developed a shared interest in sculptural ceramic forms as they built their collection, part of which they recently gave to the RISD Museum. Most of those works are shown here, along with contemporary examples from the museum’s collection.
Elizabeth A. Williams
David and Peggy Rockefeller Curator of Decorative Arts and Design
Elizabeth Williams
