DAVID ORSER

STATEMENT

DAVID ORSER      SALT AND REDUCTION FIRED     WOOD FIRED     SCULPTURE      BIO

David Orser: Artist's Statement

Most of my pottery currently resides within the realm of the traditional. Drawing influences from American folk stoneware, Korean inlaid porcelains, medieval English forms, Japanese Haniwa architectural forms, to Chinese and Japanese tea wares. I see my work as a melting pot of ideas and techniques.

One of the driving forces for me is in the pursuit of beautiful, intriguing, glazes and surfaces that speak of the awe that I experience in witnessing the natural world. Stones, leaves, water and fire, all inform the work, and I find it most fascinating when the work speaks not of me, the maker, but of the forces of nature that are present in the depths of the glaze.

         

    I have always found delight studying and in making work that has at its roots a tradition that is not easily seen in practice today. The act of making work with the same tools and motions that would have been used centuries ago can give one a sense of what these people might have experienced, at the very least on a tactile level. I cannot kid myself into thinking that I can experience the cultural context in which these historical works came into being, but I might glean some insights into what those who made them might have felt.

        

    As for the sculptural works. I got involved with them by looking at the turn of the century, constructivist and futurist art movements. This, combined with my love of the natural world, makes up the inspiration for these forms.