Ceramic Art
Ceramic Art: the outcome of choosing, shaping, then bringing materials and glazes up to a high temperature to create pottery, earthenware, porcelain, and brick, and that the resulting objects hold significance for the mind and body, rather than being practically useful.
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Although ceramic objects are often viewed of as craft created primarily for practical use, (vessels, plates, tiles etc.), Ceramic Art is created for its symbolic, personal, magical, religious, political, or other significance.
Ceramic Art is very long lived. The earliest known ceramic figurines were created around 30,000 years ago.
Ceramic Art is distinct from sculpture in that it has a more intimate quality. A sculpture is created to stand alone as an artwork and is generally of a larger scale, whereas Ceramic Art is usually more personal in nature. As well as the formal setting of a museum or gallery, small pieces are often found in a domestic setting, or carried on the person as a talisman, symbol, or to signify belief.
I have enjoyed Ceramic Art for many years. I value the care that is taken in its making, its colour, shape, and tactile qualities.
For me, the sculpture is powerful and thought provoking, but it is also more often a detached experience because of its size and placement as compared with the immediacy and connection I feel with Ceramic Art.
