Chris Gustin: Selected works, 2021-2024
I am interested in pottery that makes connections to the human figure. The figurative analogies used to describe pots throughout history all invite touch in some way. The pots that I respond to all speak of a clear, direct sense of the hand. The hand is celebrated in the work by its maker, whether it is that of a fifteenth-century rural potter or a nineteenth-century court artisan. And it becomes a necessary tool for the user in understanding the relationship of the object to its function, and subsequently, to how that object informs one’s life.
Though most of my work only alludes to function, I use the pot context because of its immense possibilities for abstraction. The skin of the clay holds the invisible interior of the vessel. How I manipulate my forms “around” that air, constraining it, enclosing it, or letting it expand and swell, can allow analogy and metaphor to enter into the work.
I want my work to provoke image to the viewer, to suggest something that is just on the other side of consciousness. I don’t want my pots to conjure up a singular recollection, but ones that change with each glance, with each change of light. I use surfaces that purposely encourage touch, and by inviting the hand to explore the forms as well as the eye, I hope to provoke numerous memories, recollections that have the potential to change from moment to moment.
Cloud Series, 2021-2024
Spirit Series, 2023-2024
Captions
- Cloud Series #2108, 2021, Glazed stoneware, h. 18 w. 19 d. 17 in. Photo credit Donzella Ltd
Cloud Sculpture #2205, 2022, Glazed Stoneware, h. 26 w. 20 d. 17 in. Photo credit Donzella
Cloud Vase #2405, 2024, Glazed Stoneware, h. 20.5 w. 12.5 d. 16 in. Photo credit Donzella Ltd
Cloud Series #2109, 2021, Glazed Stoneware, 13x14x11 in. Photo credit Chris Gustin
Cloud Series #2102, 2021, Glazed Stoneware, 21X13X12 in.Photo Credit_ Chris Gustin
Cloud Series #2103, 2021, Glazed Stoneware, 12x15x14 in. Photo credit Chris Gustin
Cloud Jar #2106, 2021, Glazed Stoneware, 16.5x15x16 in. Photo credit Chris Gustin
Cloud Jar #2107, 2021, Glazed Stoneware, 15.5X17X15 in. Photo credit Chris Gustin
Cloud Series #2110, 2021, Glazed Stoneware, 19.5x31x20 in. Photo credit Chris Gustin
Cloud Series #2307, 2023, Glazed Stoneware, 17x14x19 in. Photo credit Chris Gustin
Cloud Series #2308, 2023, Glazed Stoneware, 16x16x22 in. Photo credit Chris Gustin
Cloud Series #2202, 2022, Glazed Stoneware, 12x15x14 in. Photo credit Chris Gustin
Cloud Series #2302, 2023, Glazed Stoneware, 23x15x19 in. Photo credit Chris Gustin
Cloud Series #2304, 2023, Glazed Stoneware, 28x15x14 in. Photo credit Chris Gustin
Cloud Series #2309, 2023, Glazed Stoneware, 24x16x16 in. Photo credit Chris Gustin - Spirit Series #2304, 2023, Glazed Stoneware, 28 in. (71.12 cm) in height. Photo credit Michael Mundy
Spirit Series #2309, 2023, Glazed stoneware, 24 in. (60.96 cm) in height. Photo credit Michael Mundy
Spirit Series #2315, 2023, Glazed Stoneware, 56 in. (142.24 cm) in height. Photo credit Michael Mundy
Spirit Series #2403, 2024, Glazed stoneware, 50 in. (127 cm) in height. Photo credit Michael Mundy
Spirit Series #2316, 2023, Glazed stoneware, 60 in. (152.4 cm) in height. Photo Credit Michael Mundy
Spirit Series #2422, 2024, Glazed stoneware, 24 in. (60.96 cm) in height. Photo credit Michael Mundy
