Sunday, April 29, 2012

Object Lust

Yesterday, the ceramics studio was deserted. It was lovely being there all alone, making things and really geeking out. I've been into making these tiny bowls, partially because I love the size of them in my hands, and partially because I'm not very good yet. I made a couple bowls for my god-daughter and niece, who just turned one. It was funny because both their parents remarked that they were obsessed with touching them. I think there's something really intrinsic there that we forget about as we grow and words push the more intuative senses aside. Seeing through touching.


It's taken me a while to come to understand that I love the object-ness of things. I lust over the materials. In fashion, I nerd out about the fabric, the shape, the fit, more than the trend. In ceramics, I want to make things that have a direct relationship to the way they feel in my hand not just the way they look. I don't know if everyone experiences this.  Perhaps this is what separates those people who identify as craftspeople (like me) and those who identify as artists. I don't know.

Art that resonates to me does so because it feels organic and somehow connected to physicality. It's hard to describe exactly, I don't know if there's a word for it. The first time I saw Louis Bourgeois' work I literally cried because the forms and materials spoke to me so strongly (they even smelled!). On Friday at the open studios, I found an artist called Anna Miller, who's work I just wanted to lick it was so organic and visceral.

I'm making these little ball objects in studio. I love these little creatures that have sprung from nowhere. They fit in my hand, and have a weight to them that satisfied me deeply. I have object lust for them.





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