Pots can be covert instruments for carrying messages. Objects that over time, through intimate actions with the human body, slowly reveal surprises and meanings that are contained within. I seek to create imagined objects and spaces that serve as moments to catch a wandering eye and allow the viewer the opportunity to pause. Arranged moments of curiosity and wonder.
In this most recent work I have been investigating the idea of disruptive patterning. Like the stripes on a zebra or the spots of a cheetah, this particular type of camouflage has the ability to obliterate mass and disturb outline/profile in order to confuse either predator or prey. Thinking about this type of camouflage, and using the tools of color, pattern, and line I hope to attract or distract the viewer from a particular area of a pot. The volume of a vase, profile of its form, can be altered and confused using these simple tools. The three dimensional, heavy vase seem to flatten out and move in the direction of the flower. The flower, in turn, extends the motion of the patterned vase and actually completes the created movement. Both the real (the flower) and the created (the vase) have equal importance and complete the overall statement.
Bio
Rebecca Chappell received her M.F.A. from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 2008 and her B.F.A. from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2003. Chappell has participated in solo and group exhibitions across the US. Rebecca was awarded the Evelyn Shapiro Foundation Fellowship in 2010. She currently resides in Philadelphia PA where she is a resident artist and class teacher at The Clay Studio.
