In the time of coronavirus

A drawing installation based on thoughts about biology and coronavirus in particular.

Afferent Zone

"Afferent" as in conducting inward, as in nerves conducting impulses to the brain, or blood flowing to an organ.  Sculpture and paintings are visually linked and overlapped.  

Afferent Zone at Artfields

A new version of the installation, as seen at Artfields 2015, in Lake City, SC.

Game Pieces

This installation is shown in Seattle, as it appeared during the NCECA (National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts) conference.  It continues my trend of using biological imagery with a kind of scientific focus.  Drawings and sculpture are juxtaposed.

Hums & Oms: the performance

n installation/performance collaboration between Priscilla Hollingsworth and Carl Purdy.  The performance was part of the 2011 Westobou Arts Festival.

Regermination

 A reworking of the parts of Germination, which was partially destroyed while on exhibition.  New parts, especially paintings, are added.  The new installation is very dark in color, evoking both loss and rich dirt.

Germination

 The small forms inside the colorful basins are overglazed in gold.  This installation no longer exists; it was irreparably damaged while on exhibition.

Blue Vase Series

 These are vessels which constitute an installation - because they are meant to be seen in a row.  Negative space is important here.

BioArray 1

 Hundreds of small forms, each 4 to 7 inches long.

Hums and Oms

 This work was a repurposing of parts from several earlier installations.  There are so many forms and so many types of them that the room almost seemed to vibrate.

4 Stone Vessels

 The idea is based on the stone basins seen outside Japanese temples.  Many small cashew-like forms are strewn on the floor.

Nub

 A nub could be a growth tip on a plant, constantly changing and developing its form.  Parts are arranged in concentric circles.

12 Piles

 Simply stated, 12 piles of like objects.  8 piles have 12 objects each; 4 piles have hundreds of small forms each.

5 Gold Rings

The idea evokes the song "The 12 Days of Christmas" in terms of its numbering system.  The well-formed and nicely-colored elements have counterparts that are blackened and ill-formed.

8 Body Forms

8 large (about 4-foot) forms that surround a field of small black stone-shaped forms.  In the center of the field is a circular area of cast glass forms.

12 Vessels/Generation

Inside vs. outside: 12 large, simple vessels have barklike outsides, but complex, organically visceral insides.  Black carrotlike forms are strewn on the floor.

Arrangements

Hundreds of parts.  Black, shiny forms are arranged on the floor.  On shelves along the walls are various kinds of forms with colorful glazes.

Body Language

Highly arranged, organically abstracted forms.  There are subtle references to the body - fingerlike forms on the wall, elbowlike forms on the floor.

Containers & Tools

The forms are divided fairly evenly between forms that point ("tools") and forms are vessels ("containers").  It's part of an old potters' argument: are pots "female"?

Object Map

Forms inspired by botany books and archaeology are arranged in a grid, while certain additional elements add a maplike quality.

Selection/Profusion

All of the forms were slipcast during a residency at the Kohler factory; some are heaped in drifts on the floor while others are "selected" to be viewed individually on shelves.  Questions about the nature of artistic production.