Ceramic Art - Nature Photography
Statement
My current investigation in clay illustrates the harmonious transformation of life and death as observed in the natural world. I collect natural mementos, abandoned cocoons and seeds that exemplify the fluidity of growth and decay. My curiosity in the collected specimen’s form, surface and life cycle generate a desire to preserve that natural language and fleeting energy in soda fired porcelain forms.
The clay becomes a permanent record of the metamorphic moments I seek to capture and the unpredictable soda environment recreates the excitement of discovery. The eggs, cocoons and seeds I have created encapsulate the symbiotic cycles of natural flux coexisting and cooperating, one transition initiating the next.
Bio
Mary German received a BFA in ceramics from the University of Central Oklahoma in 2014, and an MA from the University of Dallas in 2016 and MFA in 2018. German has taught Art at community colleges in the DFW metro. Her work has been shown in several regional and national exhibitions across Texas, Oklahoma, California and Louisiana.
Currently, German teaches all levels of ceramics at the award winning Waxahachie High School in Waxahachie, Texas. Her students have participated in the Texas State VASE competition since 2019 and have taken home many Perfect Scores and a Gold Seal.
Bio
Statement
I'm making work that serves as large scale adornment while keeping within the traditional forms of functional ceramics. I'm drawn to large scale work because it gives me greater surface area for mark-making and color variations that come from the glazes I utilize, this size also serves to accentuate the unpredictability that happens with the reduction and soda atmospheres I use to fire my work.
In this body of work I'm focusing on the Industrial Revolution, working in forms inspired by that time, as well as interpreting topographical maps from that era for use on the surface of my pots. I hope to relate the raw materials I'm using in my clay and glazes with the growth of large scale mining and processing of these materials during that time period.
This period also brought about the abandoning of the use of large ceramic containers due to cheaper materials and mass production, and in contrast with this time period and mass production itself, I'm choosing to make these pots through traditional processes that date back thousands of years.
Daniel German received a BFA in ceramics from the University of Central Oklahoma in 2015, and relocated to Texas. German has taught ceramics at the Craft Guild of Dallas and continuing education in the DCCCD system. His work has been shown in several regional exhibitions across Oklahoma and Texas.