I am a bloodhound when it comes to ceramics, I can sniff clay in a photograph on a computer screen from ten feet away. In part is my daily discipline; I read more than 45 publications each day and about 150 articles looking for posts that are CFile-worthy. In addition my email brings another 20 or so submissions.
Casey Parkinson, Transcendence, part of “Reverb: Past, Present, Future” at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans. Photograph by William Widmer for the New York times. Click to see a larger image.
So when I saw Casey Parkinson’s work Transcendence, (part of the exhibition Reverb: Past, Present, Future at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans). as the feature image in the New York Times art review “Ten Years After Katrina, New Orleans Museums Reckon With Recovery” by Cameron Shaw, my nostrils twitched. Also I thought that of the works shown this was by far the most exciting given the topic and so I wanted to dig.
Parkinson was not mentioned in the article so I went a-Googling and came up with these pots. At first I thought: no, it can’t be the same person.
Click to see a larger image. Topic: Contemporary Ceramic Art
Photographs courtesy of the artist. Click to see a larger image.
But it was. Now, I spend a lot of time telling potters that just because they can make a cool vessel does not mean that they can also make good sculpture. Sometimes they can, but those are rare exceptions. They are two very different disciplines. In Parkinson’s case I would not have been arrested by her cups, teapots and vases (even with the barnacles). But if Transcendence is any indication, this young artist has a future in contemporary ceramic art sculpture.
Garth Clark is the Chief Editor of CFile.
Any thoughts about this post? Share yours in the comment box below.
Refreshing article, good to read honest opinion. the appeal of the sculptural work is strong.