Themes - Specimens

QTVR OBJECT (316k)

By definition, morphology is the scientific study of form and structure, applied to animals and plants in particular. This concept can be applied to the ceramic sculptures of Mark Leuthold, Mary Rogers, John Roloff and others who work in a style of organic abstraction. These objects resemble exoskeletal remains, fossils, pods, bleached bones, and mineral encrustations. Together, they recall a cabinet of curiosities with its exotic specimens and artifacts.

At once familiar and strange, these artworks remain incomprehensible as distinct forms. Some have no obvious orientation, such as James Shrosbee's Cast(e), which appears to be a head, although the neck could also be the spout of a vessel or the handle of a tool. Some deny access, like Owen's Sealed Pot, which presents a mystery-what is its nature? Many of these objects look natural, not manmade. Others, like Sheila Fournier's Layered Bowl or Ursula Morley Price's Bottle, graft culture onto nature with the application of a vessel's foot or rim to an organic structure.

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