Eric Ordway

Fieldstone

Flashing Slip on Stoneware, Wood Fired to Cone 11

12.75 x 7 x 3.5"

$600

Annex Gallery

Fieldstone is inspired by the practice of taking these large stones found in the fields and installing them into the front yard of the home. The works agricultural roots are alluded to through the use of the vertical carved ridges, reminiscent of plow-scraped fields of corn and soybeans.

Artist Statement:

I explore the joy of inheriting the legacy of a 150-year-old heritage family farm and historical Scandinavian folk traditions. My forms echo the rich practice of working the land: soft-formed, curving clay walls reminiscent of rolling hills, carved ridges like plow-scraped fields, meet gentle, undulating wave-like rims. Working with my body is a sacred experience. Using a kick wheel is an intuitive, mediative encounter. My feet propel the wheel, capturing the slow, rhythmic movement of my legs juxtaposed by the sharp vertical textures in the form. As I toil with my hands in the clay, I contemplate my ancestors laboring with their hands in the earth, wood, stone, and bone. Researching Scandinavian decorative folk traditions from the 1700s and historical objects from the Viking-age, I reconnect with my heritage apart from the stories told by a tight-knit family steeped in tradition, dogma, and expectations of conformity.