Gratitude vessels : ceramic composition and social cohesion

Abstract

This body of work presents ceramic serving and drinking vessels in a series of arranged compositions. These vessels include teapots, ewers, decanters and cups presented along with bases. As an object maker, I am attracted to vessels for serving and drinking to convey my conceptual framework of community and the ever-present dialogue between the individual and the collective. The service sets I create are a metaphor for social cohesion. The work has a sense of quietude while at the same time demanding attention from the viewer to contemplate the composition and its meaning. The acts of serving and accepting reflect a shared exchange of human contact. The iconic phrase 'tea time,' whether in the family setting or that of the larger community, allows for a certain leveling of the social hierarchy and thus, for fellowship. With this grouping of ceramic objects, the shared moment becomes elevated and the mundane becomes ceremonial.