Untitled by Brick Brickman
Medium: Mixed media (partially reconstructed 1800’s Kronthaler stoneware water bottle, acrylic, brass, wood)
Size: 16” x 9”
Medium: Mixed media (partially reconstructed 1800’s Kronthaler stoneware mineral water bottle, acrylic paint, brass, wood
Special thanks to Shaun Slifer, for his expertise and collaboration in the mount-making process.
Artist Statement:
This summer a friend handed me a bucket of earth-encrusted ceramic shards, and I spent several evenings meticulously reconstructing what vessels they might be. Some pieces were easily mated, while other fragments had to be closely scrutinized by shape, sheen, and color of their glazed finish, both exterior and interior. In some cases, only the slow, repeated sliding of one broken edge along another, rotating the fragment, sliding again, feeling with fingers for the most minute sensation of the surface grabbing at the placement of its former self. The process was calming, meditative, punctuated by small moments of elation as pieces were reunited, and eventually the acceptance and sadness of having nothing left to place. My time spent observing and working with their pieces allowed me to consider ideas of wholeness and loss, the internal from external, the form and purpose that separation may take and when it ceases to be, and the grace of simply continuing to exist. From the fragments I was gifted and the many hours I spent working with them, seven bottles took shape, none of them whole again, but that was not the point.
Image description: A sculpture of a reconstructed 1800’s ceramic bottle which remains broken in half with its two pieces set in vertical orientation without touching, standing at 12” tall and floating on a black oval wall mount. The bottle’s exterior surface is a high gloss glaze finish of variable earthen tones, the interior has matte shades of beige with signs of dirt still evident. The bottle’s broken edges are painted an ultramarine blue, separating the exterior and interior surfaces of the bottle.