All images and text Copyright 2001-2010 by James Freeman. All rights reserved.
James Freeman Studio
Manitou Beach,
Michigan
Michigan
James Freeman
October, 2009
Clay is a heavy, dense material that seems naturally predisposed to the production of ponderous and rather dumpy forms. It also has a tendency to do as it pleases in the searing heat of the kiln, bending, twisting, and slumping in response to any technical flaw in concept or execution, and to the inexorable laws of physics. As a perfectionist with a strong if not dominant left-brain, the choice of ceramics as a means of creative expression is perhaps odd. I often find myself in a Sisyphean battle to coax precision and extreme technical complexity out of an utterly recalcitrant medium.
The works in this exhibition, while from two very distinct series, actually share a common genesis and explore a common concept. Most of these works are part of my Embrace series, and derive their form from thoughts about organic and inorganic growth and decay. In all cases, however, this overarching form is seen to be not something concrete and self-defined, but rather as something that exists only through the interaction of it's component parts. These parts, which often hold little aesthetic interest, and sometimes cannot even stand, on their own, nonetheless work together through proximity, merging, and interpenetrating to define form and meaning.
The balance of the works, Identity, 100 cups, and 520 Tiny Cups, are from my newest Illusion series. These works also explore the idea of meaning being derived through the interaction of discrete parts rather than being something integral to the actual piece. Unlike my other pieces, in which components interact additively to define the form or meaning, much as bricks interact to define a wall, the works in the Illusion series derive their meaning from what isn't there, from the holes between the warp and weft rather than from the fibers themselves.
October, 2009
Clay is a heavy, dense material that seems naturally predisposed to the production of ponderous and rather dumpy forms. It also has a tendency to do as it pleases in the searing heat of the kiln, bending, twisting, and slumping in response to any technical flaw in concept or execution, and to the inexorable laws of physics. As a perfectionist with a strong if not dominant left-
The works in this exhibition, while from two very distinct series, actually share a common genesis and explore a common concept. Most of these works are part of my Embrace series, and derive their form from thoughts about organic and inorganic growth and decay. In all cases, however, this overarching form is seen to be not something concrete and self-
The balance of the works, Identity, 100 cups, and 520 Tiny Cups, are from my newest Illusion series. These works also explore the idea of meaning being derived through the interaction of discrete parts rather than being something integral to the actual piece. Unlike my other pieces, in which components interact additively to define the form or meaning, much as bricks interact to define a wall, the works in the Illusion series derive their meaning from what isn't there, from the holes between the warp and weft rather than from the fibers themselves.
This Artist Statement is from my solo exhibition at The Alden B. Dow Museum: