FOLD: Working in Three Dimensions

As a graphic designer, I spend a tremendous amount of time working in two dimensions — designing for paper and, more often, for screens. There is nothing wrong with this but it does tend to over-wear those creative muscles after a time. A good friend invited me to take a ceramics class at Studio Dalmori with her a few years ago. At that point, my artwork was moving in the direction of drawing and painting, and weaving — which is not exactly two dimensional but is mostly about flat pattern and imagery. Texture too. In any case, I went along mainly to spend some creative, social time with my friend, not super enthusiastic about hand-building ceramics but willing to learn. I had no idea it would grab my imagination the way it has.

I have been working with Joni Moriyama at her open studio for nearly three years now. I have been playing primarily with slab construction, in some cases carving moldes with graphic patterns (running deer, chrysanthemums...), sometimes working with globular forms, and most recently, working with draped and folded sheets of ceramic that play with a sense of fabric and drape.

I will present a few of these threads of inquiry over the next while. Today I am sharing documentation of my Fold series, thus far. This is an ongoing exploration, two new pieces glazed yesterday and not yet fired. I love the feeling of suspense, waiting to see how these will turn out! In the meantime, here are the first four experimental pieces. Also, the geometric woven fabric used in some of these images is a fabric I wove in 2016.

FOLD 1

FOLD 2

FOLD 3

FOLD 4