Some of the Magnolia pots have been chosen as one of three finalists for the Home Beautiful Product of the Year Award. This is a strange place for the handmade, amidst the factory manufactured "Designer" works, but I am always advocating that art can and should be part of life, that the handmade, individual can have a voice and a presence amidst the mass-produced.
Only when artists are willing to enter the surging river of consumer goods and navigate these tumbling rapids will "ordinary" people be exposed to the joy, individualism, warmth and tactility of the handmade..........
I wrote this in an essay about this very subject...
"The value that these pots bring into our lives has changed from being pure necessity, when the town potter was as essential as the baker or the farrier to handmade pots performing a spiritual function. The presence of handmade domestic ware has become a symbol of the link between artist and community, the importance of a skill that takes time to learn, a calm, individual voice amid the mass-produced. In this world of fast food, and corporate control of “good taste “ in everything from clothing to home wares the handmade pot represents an investment in individualism, an aesthetic that values patience and celebrates humanity in objects."
The exhibition of the these awards is showing at Bondi Junction Westfield Shopping Centre in Sydney!
3 comments:
Oh! Congratulations to you, Shannon.
Such lovely ceramics. Congrats! I found out about your work because of the article in today's The Age online. Beautiful beautiful work. And I couldn't agree more about artists making their way into the land of consumer goods and opening minds about handmade products.
Congratulations Shannon. It is indeed a wonderful thing to see beautiful handmade wares included in this kind of forum.
And regarding your previous post, on The Divided Heart, Rachel has set up her own blog to continue the discussion on this topic. http://rachel-power.blogspot.com/
It's definitely and emotive and interesting area!
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