Liz Larner has said that she was drawn to sculpture because it is the “most physical of artforms”. If this is true of sculpture, then it must follow that ceramics is one of the most physical of sculptural artforms, not only in the way the material demands such direct manipulation in the studio, but also by virtue of the sheer variety of surface effects, density, texture, and form it is possible to achieve.
Larner started working with ceramics in the early 90s, learning about slab building and glazing from the artist Ken Price. In this recent series she has refined the lessons of her earlier experiments into the effects of colour as articulated through sculpture and installation art to produce surprisingly small scale, but highly-charged pieces. Whilst ceramic vessels have long been used to carry pictorial and decorative devices, it is less common to be presented with the raw physicality and haptic allure of ceramics displayed in the same way that we might view a painting. There are no pictograms here, no curlicues – just the irresistible indulgence of rich glazes and raw, brittle ceramic – the kind of sculptural object that Larner might describe amongst her work as “a concrete poem”.
Side view – Liz Larner, ix (calefaction), 2016, ceramic, glaze, stones, minerals, 59,1 x 97,8 x 24,8 cm, 23 1/4 x 38 1/2 x 9 3/4 inches, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin | Paris, Photo : def-image.com
To view more of the artist’s works from this series follow the link below:
Liz Larner at Galerie Max Hetzler
Quotations in the text above were taken from a lecture given by the artist (see link below) at the Nasher Sculpture Center:
Liz Larner speaking about her work at Nasher Sculpture Center
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