Ah! A hand thrown pot can contain nourishment as well as it can provide it.  Pottery can infuse artful practice and a direct relationship to the producer into everyday objects.   It is the potter’s responsibility to continue to push form and surface to make the best pots possible.  Well crafted handmade objects support the argument for locality and autonomy, which give them greater value in a contemporary context rooted in ambiguous commodity consumption.  It is our responsibility to craft the things we consume. 

My work is constantly exploring a definition of quality as it refers to formal and surface considerations, an aesthetic of simplicity and honesty, and its presentation as it exists on a spectrum between utility and sculpture.  It juxtaposes the faces of pottery –it shows pottery can occupy different arenas moving from one to the other.  This is not a zero sum environment; pottery can be shown in galleries as well as serve fresh bread in the home. 

Utilitarian pottery reconciles the precious nature of art objects with the necessity to inject artful practice into all the things we make and consume.  It establishes a balance between a unique and valuable item and an acceptance of a functional end.  Pottery is able to act as a bridge in the art world while challenging it to open its traditional spaces towards a wider variety of alternatives – at the same time hand thrown pottery injects artistic practice back into utilitarian objects meant for everyday use.     

The formal aspects relevant to the work are seen in a move toward honesty and simplicity.  Honesty is an acceptance of what it means to make pottery – understanding that it is a practice.  The form and surface of a piece of pottery simply need to point to the fact that it is pottery.  A simple approach can be particularly successful in a cultural context oversaturated with complex imagery.  My approach to form leans toward stark and stoic, highlighting the process of throwing and firing. 

At the end of the day I make pots and I try to make them as honest as possible.  Pottery should have the same honest character of fresh baked bread.  The work of making pottery provides something tangible, something simple, something artful and delicious.  Pottery is a celebration of ideas, work, creativity and community.  It can remind us that it is our duty to own our creativity and invest it in our every day practice.   

Enjoy the pottery: Hoorah!

drew nicklas