“Beyond Function”
an installation of ceramic paintings

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“Beyond Function,” a collection of ceramic 'paintings' by Salem potter Karl Knudson, was exhibited at the Silverton Art Association's Borland Gallery, from July 5 - 31, 2002.

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ARTIST STATEMENT

This series of work explores the use of functional pottery in a completely nonfunctional manner. During the 1980's there was a great debate between two major leaders of American Ceramics, Warren MacKenzie and Wayne Higby, as to the true 'value' of ceramics. MacKenzie subscribed to the idea that the true value of pottery lies in its function and use, while Higby supported the idea that pottery should serve as a canvas to express the ideas of the artist, and that the function of a pot was a secondary concern.

As I agree and disagree with aspects of both of these philosophies; I used a combination of these ideas in the development of my own aesthetic style. MacKenzie and others like him make beautiful plain functional pots. They serve their purpose with little to no elaboration or distractions. Many people would look at these pots with a reaction of "it serves it's purpose but it's not very exciting," which as a reaction is probably not far off from that of the styrofoam cup. Those same people reacting to some of Higby's or others in his camp's work might be "What the…?", "Don't touch it." and "This costs how much!"

It seemed to me that the answer to this was to combine these two ideas, a gray to their black and white ideals. This is what I try to do in my usual work, a combination of beauty and function.

This show is no about my normal work though.

This show deals with the question: What happens when you take purely functional pottery and place it into a nonfunctional environment? Can MacKenzie's function become Higby's art through its environment alone? I think that it can and does. I wanted to take functional pottery: simply glazed, cone 10, reduction fired stoneware, and make it into "art" without sacrificing its ability to function as pottery.

I created a type of "Ceramic Painting" that kept the tenets of MacKenzie's and Higby's philosophies. I've tried to maintain the idea that the functional pottery should remain the dominant feature in the work. I've relied upon the plasticity and flexibility of the thrown clay, and it's layout and design to maintain this focus. The painted backgrounds serve to create the environment that transforms everyday craft pottery into art.

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The Borland Gallery is located at Coolidge Street in Silverton. For further information contact the gallery at 503.873.2480 or by e-mail SAA303Coolidge@msn.com. The web address is www.silvertonarts.org

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ceramic paintings