Earthenware pottery has a long and venerable history, from ancient Chinese Yang Shao works to new-world Mimbres bowls, and much between and beyond. These remarkable works, often with decorated surfaces, inspire us today as high points in ceramic art.
In the last half of the 20th century, there was a tendency by aficionados of the high-fire vessel school to vilify earthenware as a contemporary medium for “serious” potters. One influence in this time was an interest in things natural and influences from certain parts of Japanese aesthetics of restraint. Earthenware materials seem to ask for surface intervention, and make a broad lively use of color possible. There were also technical considerations. In the early 20th century, lead was touted as the only reasonable low-fire flux, and that was a toxic liability. Lowfire was associated with punky, under-fired folk pottery that didn’t stand up to daily use. Earthenware was relegated to flower pots and floor tile.
Fueled by technical advances (the availability of frits, stains, inclusions stains, and advances in electric kiln technology, shared information about what was possible), a wave of iconoclastic clay artists who broke many kinds of “rules” in both pottery and sculpture, and the open, questioning attitude in ceramic education, new generations of potters have found their personal vision is best pursued in a lowfire vocabulary.
Speaking Low: Surfaces in Earthenware celebrates the variety and vitality of works by accomplished lowfire potters today. These artists elevate “common” earthenware into poetic expressions that tell us the ordinary can be extraordinary.
Linda Arbuckle
