From Storage to Studio
Artworks
Artist/maker unknown, American
Memory Jug
Medium & Materials:
Earthenware, putty, nails, scissors, files, and other found objects, gold-colored paint
Measurements:
6 1/2 x 8 in.
Date:
1900-1930
Joshua Hebbert
Josh Hebbert in Storage
Joshua Hebbert
Memory Jar #1
Medium & Materials:
Ceramic
Measurements:
6.25" x 6.25" x 10"
Date:
2019
Description:
Memory 4: An Object’s
The clay is made. It is wedged. It is coiled. The coils are stacked and slipped and scored. The pot is built. It is paddled and formed and smoothed and dried. It is pierced with my needle, my blade, my knife. The repetition of HA HA HA scrolls across the surface, breaking the smoothness of the clay, leaving it rough, hurt, mangled. The memory of those actions leave their mark. This pot remembers scavenging for treasures with my Great Grandmother and delighting in discovery. This pot remembers spiritual traditions that were beaten out of a people. It remembers the violence of young men. It remembers the young women that aren’t believed. This pot remembers the laughter that I heard when schoolmates called me “fag”. This pot remembers the weight of the Memory Jug the first time I picked it up. This pot remembers lives past and futures to come.
Artist/maker unknown, Japanese
Incense Burner
Medium & Materials:
Hard-paste porcelain with enamel decoration
Measurements:
5 15/16 × 5 15/16 × 6 in.
Date:
1690-1710
Andrea Marquis
Studio View
Andrea Marquis
Study of an Incense Burner
Medium & Materials:
Porcelain, stoneware
Measurements:
8.25" x 7.5" x 8.75"
Date:
2019
Description:
it was clear that I responded most to objects that have tangible evidence of the maker’s hand—a quality that is possible when working with plastic clay like terracotta or hard-paste porcelain of Arita, and not the soft-paste French 17th and 18th century porcelains which were most likely produced in a plaster, and require clay slip that is much less malleable. I also preferred the fluid, glassy surfaces on the copper and manganese glazed Japanese porcelain and the lead glazed earthenware, to the vibrant yet matte China painted enamel of Sevres and Meissen porcelains. It wasn’t until the 11th hour that I chose the Japanese Incense Burner with it’s carefully modeled flowers. It was a familiar departure point for a new piece.
Attributed to James Carr, Victorian
Foot Warmer
Medium & Materials:
Earthenware
Measurements:
Height: 11 1/8 in.
Date:
1852-1854
Stephanie Kantor
Studio View
Stephanie Kantor
Fishy Foot Warmer (Green)
Medium & Materials:
earthenware, glaze
Measurements:
20" x 16" x 16"
Date:
2019
Description:
I have always been fascinated by historical objects made for oddly specific utilitarian purposes. These bottle forms that have the impression of feet, were filled with either hot water or hot sand, placed in bed, and used to warm one’s feet. As a person who is often cold, I find these objects simultaneously ridiculous, comical, and yet somehow extremely endearing. Were it not for the advent of furnaces, I’m quite sure that I would be a proud possessor of one of these ceramic foot warmers. The original object had slight impressions of fish with gentle finger indentations to indicate scales and slightly sculpted fins and eyes. I am curious as to why this homely foot warmer would be transformed into a fish, though I suspect it may have something to do with its function as a water-containing vessel. I have always been fascinated with ornamentation and how a functional object is not simply left bare, but includes meaningful decoration to add concept and narrative to otherwise utilitarian items.
Artist/maker unknown, Chinese
Garden Seat
Medium & Materials:
Porcelain with overglaze enamel decoration
Measurements:
19 x 14 3/16 in.
Date:
19th century
Yehrim Lee
Studio View
Yehrim Lee
Money Chair #1
Medium & Materials:
Stoneware
Description:
In East Asian culture, it is common to convey theme through symbol instead of direct statement. For instance, the magpie bird on the garden stool symbolizes longevity; the peony flower, prosperity; and the pomegranate, fertility. But most interesting to me were the “money” symbols, not painted on the chair, but excised into the sculpture itself. The excisions resemble the holes in Chinese coins. In my work, I seek to bridge the East and the West. I thought it would be interesting to make a modern stool that was part sculptural and part functional, that combined Chinese iconography with Western directness. The western audience may not know the meaning the money symbols carved into the chair, but it is no coincidence the sculpture is green, the western symbol for wealth. I also titled the piece “Money Chair”, to emulate western directness. What further drew me to this iconography of wealth is that consumerism is often a theme in my work. Though colors and glaze, I explore luxury and decadence with surfaces that crystallize, facet, fragment, stylize, sharpen, and distort. I find a metaphor to my process in the obsessive repetitions of late-stage capitalism. While the highly-ornate decoration of the Garden Seat would make sense to the upper class in an earlier era, my response conveys a more modern sense of abundance through elaborate shape, dripping glaze, sheens, and functionality that is questioned by extravagant form.
Enos Smedley
Planter
Medium & Materials:
Redware, lead glaze, white slip (for sgraffito decoration), copper oxide
Measurements:
Height: 8 9/16 in. Diameter: 8 7/8 in.
Date:
1840
Daniel Ricardo Teran
Studio View
Daniel Ricardo Teran
Honoring Enos
Medium & Materials:
earthenware, terra sigillata
Date:
2019
Description:
When I was able to get close to this pot, the revelation I had was one of familiarity. While the preciousness of the being in the PMA storage remained, the preciousness of the object dissipated. As I held this earthenware pot, I felt the potter’s commitment to his practice and contemplated the hundreds of pots that came before and after. The skill and diligence required to make these fancy pots took years to acquire and apprenticeships with master potters were very important part of the skill building process. When I look and this pot I see the passing of skill and knowledge from master to apprentice, Aaron James to Enos Smedley, to Darlington Cope and on.
My work for this show is a collection of small-footed plant pots, inspired by the commitment Enos Smedley had to his trade. This work expresses the importance of practice and to honor what it means to be a potter.
Artist/maker unknown
Art Nouveau Vase
Medium & Materials:
Earthenware mounted in silver
Measurements:
10 × 7 7/8 × 7 in.
Date:
c. 1890-1900
Roberta Massuch
Studio View
Roberta Massuch
Vase with Collar
Medium & Materials:
earthenware
Measurements:
12" x 7" x 21"
Date:
2019
Description:
My participation in Storage to Studio was a process best described through three words:
searching. seeing. selecting. Through these actions -- the museum visits, conversations with curators, and studio explorations -- I began to see connections that weave through the entirety of my studio inquiries. The value in this project has been the opportunity to look back to interests that had fallen away from my practice. As Art Deco architectural ornament creeps back into my visual vocabulary, I think about recurring themes in my work relating to new motifs. Windows and steps continue to act as metaphor for humans connection with the spaces we occupy - always moving to/away/through some place or experience. Light, shadow, and color still causes objects to become inextricably involved with one another. But without this experience, it’s quite possible I may never have connected my current practice to those past sources of inspiration in order to make new works.
Ogata Kenzan
Covered Dish
Medium & Materials:
Earthenware with underglaze and overglaze enamel decoration
Measurements:
3 3/8 x 5 5/8 x 5 5/8 in. with top
Date:
Late 17th - early 18th century
Jordan McDonald
With Felice Fischer in PMA Asian Art Storage
Jordan McDonald
Covered Dish with Design of Garden at Night
Medium & Materials:
stoneware, glaze, overglaze enamel
Measurements:
7" x 7" x 4"
Date:
2019
Description:
In beginning of this project, I immediately selected a covered dish by Kenzan to use as my ‘inspiration’. At first, while I was just viewing the object in images, I was attracted to the surface of the piece - the sublime layers of clay, slip, glaze and overglaze enamels. Which has always been my first inclination and attraction to Kenzan’s work. It was while I was in the storage at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and seeing the dish in the flesh that I began to really notice the shape of the piece. I realized the dish has some interesting contradictions to play with. The body is not quite square, and not quite round. The foot is sort of soft, though the sides are straight and self-assured. The lid droops down nicely at the edges, while the foot curves up. It’s as if the top and bottom edges are being pressed together, like when you’re holding the edges of a nice big burger. Also, on the body doesn’t have any flange or lid-seat, the lid just sits there, totally self-assured. In my mind, prior to seeing and handling the dish, I had thought that there would be a sophisticated lid-flange, but the lid just goes on top. I liked that. Felice Fisher, the Senior Curator of East Asian Art at the PMA, pointed out the subtle difference in coloration between the lid and body of the dish, which lead her to believe the current lid is probably a replacement for the original, which probably broke at some point.
Artist/maker unknown
Bell Cup
Medium & Materials:
Stoneware with perforations
Measurements:
8 3/8 x 4 1/4 in.
Date:
Korean, Silla Kingdom (57 BCE-668CE), 5th-6th century
Nate Willever
Studio View
Nate Willever
Silla Cup
Medium & Materials:
wood-fired, locally sourced stoneware
Measurements:
9" x 9" x 7"
Date:
2019
Description:
I chose the “Bell Cup” because of its human character and sculptural pierced form. When shaken, the ball placed inside the hip of the cup bangs against the wall creating a rattling noise. I found this cup to have the best combination of form, surface and function of the Silla pots I was able to view at the Museum. Creating the pieces for the show was an extension of my existing studio practice. I use a minimally processed, locally sourced high iron stoneware in my work. Some of the pots I made are wood fired with a bare clay surface much like the Silla pots. I also reduction fired using some forms with wood ash and local feldspar glazes. It is great fun making a series of this style pot. Deciding how tall to make the foot, how open or cupped to make the bowl are considerations that can lead to an endless variety of form. I plan to keep making pots inspired by these Silla dynasty forms in the future.
Artist/maker unknown, Japanese
Incense Burner
Medium & Materials:
Hard-paste porcelain with enamel decoration
Measurements:
5 15/16 x 5 15/16 x 6in.
Date:
1690-1710
Amy Shindo
Studio View
Amy Shindo
For Shoji
Medium & Materials:
earthenware, glaze
Measurements:
4" x 4" x 4"
Date:
2019
Description:
Handling this work in museum storage was so exciting. It is a latticework box in two parts, which was not shown in the online photos. I was stunned by the vibrant colors, the feeling of density and movement created by the delicate leaves and flowers in bloom and bud. Intricately modelled, the piece maintains a lightness allowing a glimpse inside through the negative spaces of the cage like structure.
Lifting this cage revealed a utilitarian cup form attached to the platform beneath. At once I felt familiarity with this functional form unseen at first, and this connection allowed me to imagine creating the response for this project. I’m inspired by this original moment of surprise; the discovery of this functional object hidden underneath the sculptural and decorative cover. The cup itself is also adorned with skillful overglaze enamel brushwork. I like to imagine that while extraordinary in its decoration in numerous techniques, this piece allowed me to understand it as something seemingly ordinary and relatable at its heart.
Designed by Daniel Weil
Bag Radio
Medium & Materials:
Flexible PVC
Measurements:
11 11/16 x 8 1/8in.
Date:
Designed 1981
Jacob Raeder
Studio View
Jacob Raeder
Block Crystal Radio
Medium & Materials:
resin, foam, wire, mercury, porcelain, pyrite, epoxy
Measurements:
8" x 4" x 4"
Date:
2019
Description:
I have been making variations of crystal radios since the urban legend of people picking up radios stations through their dental fillings. The underlying alchemy of metal and spit and bone captured my imagination at a time when I was also interested in kitsch technology and suburban aesthetics. Crystal radios and their ability to transmute the energy that emanates all around us into sound as well as the simplicity and elegance of their construction made them the ideal vessel for me to explore materiality and meaning. However, my practice is as mercurial as it is cyclical, and while I made a few pieces and did some intensive research, it was just enough to satisfy my curiosity and soon I was spiraling away towards another body of work.
Artist/maker unknown, Chinese
Toilet Case
Medium & Materials:
Jade (nephrite); huali stand
Measurements:
4 x 2 3/4 x 3/8in.
Date:
Qianlong period (1736-1795)
Jason Lee Starin
The artist in PMA storage
Jason Lee Starin
Wall-Hanging Soap Dish
Medium & Materials:
porcelain, acrylic paint, soap, nylon
Measurements:
3.5" x 11" x 16"
Date:
2019
Description:
My initial interest in the object I selected for From Storage to Studio, was merely formal. The Toilet Case has similar qualities to my larger body of work - homogeneous in color, obscuring form, design considerations through the use of positive and negative space, as well as a sense of a screen or barrier impairing one’s line of sight. Upon visitation, the objects nearly imperceptible details and rich carvings drew me in closer to its intimate scale. At that time, I was also informed of its function. Hollow inside, the object is speculated to have been a carrying case for small utensils for cleaning one’s ears. Necessary, yet a bit disgusting to those other than the owner of such an object, my response to the original artifact took on the intriguing daily narrative of personal hygiene. The obsessive decoration of the Toilet Case’s exterior now imbued another sort of fetishizing, that of the meticulous care of one’s interior aural facilities.
Artist/maker unknown, Korean
Mounted Jar with Spout
Medium & Materials:
Stoneware with incised decoration and perforations
Measurements:
Height: 4 3/4in.
Date:
Silla Kingdom (57 BCE-668 CE)
Rebecca Chappell
Work in Progress
Rebecca Chappell
Candle Sticks
Medium & Materials:
Stoneware, thrown and assembled
Measurements:
7" x 7" x 7.5"
Date:
2019
Artist/maker unknown, English
Teapot with Lid
Medium & Materials:
Salt-glazed stoneware with scratch-blue decoration
Measurements:
4 x 6 1/2 x 3in.
Date:
ca. 1745
Ahrong Kim
Studio View of molds
Ahrong Kim
Tea-rophy
Medium & Materials:
porcelain, luster, resin, stone
Measurements:
7" x 4" x 10.5"
Date:
2019
Description:
My grandmother was a tailor for the vice president in South Korea. I remember the fabrics with colors and patterns around her, and those memories in my childhood became the greatest inspiration in my artwork. Carrying over that memory, my storage visit to the PMA for the exhibition ‘From storage to studio’ was such an overwhelming experience. Learning the ancient’s craft created by their wisdom in life was very interesting and relatable to my country, Korea’s craft history and culture, which I am familiar with and influenced by. In Korea’s history, our ancestors would create things to use. They could not afford an extravagance to make things just to decorate. I like making sculptural things, however, because of my cultural background; I’ve always been drowned to practical things with a purpose of use.
I love teapots not only because they are usable but also because of their balanced form. With a spout and a handle together, it gives me a feeling of stabilization and comfort. (This often reflects upon how my works are made) In addition, a spout, a handle, and a lid with a pot – all these forms together, it brings out a complex look and this composition approaches to me as a sculptural object.
Staffordshire potteries, Staffordshire, England
Figure of a Boxer (pair)
Medium & Materials:
Pearl-glazed earthenware with overglaze painted decoration
Measurements:
8 3/8 x 3 9/16 x 4 3/8in.
Date:
ca. 1813-1815
Nick Lenker
Studio View
Nick Lenker
The Boxers
Medium & Materials:
ceramic, custom ceramic decals, luster
Measurements:
19" x 12" x 21"
Date:
2019
Description:
Here are two souvenirs from an 1800s boxing match between Tom Molineaux (an African American former slave) and Tom Cribb (the Champion of England). Molineaux’s story is the story of an underdog rising out of humble beginnings and almost toppling the best fighter in England. It’s a story about gaining access through exceptional skill. The souvenir acts as a memento of a moment in time worth remembering. An object that attempts to be a passage to a place in your life that is unreachable. It is a symbol representing an event which has now changed through the perspective of time.
I wanted this sculpture to encompass all of the ways of seeing these spaces and the objects within them. How could I mix the idea of the souvenir with our layered perception? I want to see many sides at once. I create the object. It is blank. I give it identity with a skin made of photographs that don’t belong to it. Can it be real?
Project Photos
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