Nancy Creech Ceramic Art

The Living Grid Team Luncheon

I couldn’t have made Living Grid by myself.  My sister, Rondi Vasquez, began working with me in December of 2008.  Lisa Ellena joined us in early 2009 and the three of us worked until August 2009 to finish the triptych.  During that time, Rondi became increasingly engaged in the project.  In corporate life we would say she took strong ownership.  The picture of her examining the balance of the unfired elements is just right.  She was there fully, heart and mind.  One of the great gifts of my life is to have sisters who care deeply about each other.  I have five of them.  A feast.  A banquet.  And Rondi was in alignment with me on Living Grid.  She knew how important the overall composition was, the color balance, the proportion of dark to light and vivid to pale, occupied to empty.  How important matte glazes were, the degree of stain needed on the windowpanes.

When Lisa joined us she brought great strengths, as well as fitting beautifully into a team, even bringing a love of thin porcelain with her.  Her training and nature ensured that her work was skillful and thorough.  She helped to make sense out of the dozens and dozens of test glazes and stains, and the tiles.  She built frames for us to use in assembling the elements, and worked so patiently with slip and clay, the jeweler’s beads and wire.  And wax!  So much wax!  I’m sure there were a number of assignments that seemed nutty to her, things I had to try.  She was always so patient and cooperative.

At the end of Living Grid, Rondi and I wanted to see how the elements could be placed in a smaller frame, and how we could play with the relationship of the windowpanes to the view, both inward and outward.  Yes, the concept, elements and assembly were what I created for Living Grid, and I was the producer.  But Rondi and I worked so closely on the Windowpane Series  that it felt much more like a creative collaboration.  The pieces were much smaller, and Rondi made many of the elements.  She did the photography for Out West, Eucalyptus, Sky Wire and Gingko, really excellent compositions.  (Out West is pictured on this site and Eucalyptus will be soon.)

Rondi and Lisa, thank you both for giving so generously of your talents.  I could not have had a better team.

Also instrumental in the project were Christopher Gay (metal frames), Tony Rotter (wood frames) and Karyn Rovner (frame design).  Those who opened their homes to me for photography were: Kris Rowlen, Andrea Richards, Rondi Vasquez, Helen Simmons, Michelle Symeonides, Edward Polk and Karyn Rovner.

Living Grid Triptych

Living Grid Triptych

39.5″H x 88″W x 4″D

Porcelain, Silk Images on Poster Board Under Encaustic; Glaze, Mason Stains in a Patinated Aluminum Frame

Living Grid, Left Section

Living Grid, Center Section

Living Grid, Right Section

There is inevitably a voyeuristic aspect to this piece.  The images are intentionally in shadow, details not always distinct.  People peer inside, never quite satisfied at what they see.

Living Grid, Close-Up

Living Grid, Side View

I love this view.  The piece is quite disciplined, and the windowpanes express that best.  The stain on these elements across the full width of the piece is its own composition.

Nike I and Nike II are the first in a series.  Nike has pushed its way into the world’s imagination, supplanting the goddess of victory with shoes.  And she is an avatar.  I love what she has to say about what the modern woman asks of herself.

Nikes I and II

I think of them as sisters, sharing the bones and indelible family traits, but so, so different.  I have a friend who is looking these over, and I gave her a list of all the attributes of Nike II, and it reads like the accomplishments of the A student, the good sister:  The weight of the verbs is heavy and is matched by the power of Nike’s magnificent legs.  I placed a mathematical equation at the waist, indicating the dedication to accomplishment and knowledge, using the legacy of Maria Agnesi to do so.  The flower, feminine and tasteful, ready to go from the office to cocktails without missing a beat.  The skirt has a cut-out quality, acknowledging the unreal, the illusory nature of Nike, playing with the Nike that has planted itself in the public imagination, co-opting fantasies.  I love the tidiness of Nike II, and its own truth.

Nike I gets me in the gut.  The skirt carries the image of Nike’s legs, placed on a larger, plain shape.  Nike becomes the avatar.  The image of the legs evokes a mood both urban and nocturnal.  The surface is bombarded with those damn verbs; an infant’s picture, the color of blood, is at the belly.   Both girls are going, but this one has a much more visceral motive.  (Nike I sold, week of 12/5.)

Doll Dress, 1930

This could have been my mother’s dress, but since the tattered little garment was found in a pillowcase with doll dresses, that’s what I’m calling it.  It’s certainly larger than most doll dresses.  The stitching is still visible on the hem of the porcelain version.

SOLD

Doll Dress, 1930

16 1/2″H x 15 3/4″W x 2 3/4″D

Glazed porcelain with encaustic detail on the belt

Doll Dress, 1930, side view

Doll Dress, 1930, right side

Quiet House

The photos have a stillness within a quiet palette.  The curtains have a motionless vitality as well.

Windowpane Series – Quiet House

31″W x 8 1/4″H x 2 1/4″D

Baltic birch frame, custom laminated

This piece is best left free-standing, but can also be wall-hung.  Two keyholes are drilled into the back of the piece so that it hangs flush to the wall.  The frame has removable plates from which the porcelain elements are suspended.

Quiet Home, right side

Quiet Home, Close-Up

Windowpane Series – Out West

31″W x 15 1/2″H x 2 1/4″D

This piece captures Southern California on a sunny day.  The photo is altered to give it the feel of a set with an almost unreal blue sky.  The windowpanes have a sun-bleached quality, and the curtains have a patina of age as well.

Porcelain elements with mason stains and encaustic medium surface decoration on curtains.  Edited photo on silk attached to translucent porcelain with encaustic medium.  Baltic birch frame, custom laminated.

Out West, angle

Out West, close-up

GOING

This piece incorporating the skirt of Nike/Winged Victory is the first in a series.  It looks at what we imagine for ourselves and what influences our imagination, in the context of a modern woman, a working woman.  Here, the image is juxtaposed on a larger form.  Underlaying both top and skirt is a tapestry of work verbs, drenching the elements, giving them a vibration.  The top adds to the theme of Going.  It’s a sketch, and the simple lines of the shape with a raw finish add to a sense of Going – even hurrying.

Going

SOLD

21″H X 8.5′W x 2″D

Surface decoration is mason stains and underglazes.

This piece consists of five porcelain elements that each represent a significant phase in the life of the eighteenth century Italian mathematician Maria Gaetana Agnesi.  The mathematical imagery was provided to me by the Spanish mathematician, Nuria Joglar, a dear friend of my sister Louisa.

The Life of Maria Gaetana Agnesi

Beginning from the left:  Agnesi was born into a wealthy Milanese family and demonstrated scholastic brilliance and devotion to Christianity at an early age.  She was often called upon to demonstrate her talents at her father’s social events.  Second from left:  Her father asked her to educate her 20 siblings.  She agreed to do so, writing Instituzioni Analitiche, a highly regarded text on differential calculus, during that period.

Close-Up, Left Side

Center:  During this period she also wrote a notable analysis of a geometric curve which now bears her name, “The Witch of Agnesi.”  The term “witch” is a mis-translation which was not corrected, and is not a reflection on Agnesi.

Second from right:  As a result of her accomplishments in mathematics, she received Papal recognition and an appointment to the faculty at the University of Bologna.  (It isn’t clear that she accepted the appointment.)

Far right:  After the death of her father mid-century, she dedicated herself to working to relieve the suffering of the poor, and ultimately took her vows as a nun.  She died in 1799.

Close-Up, Right Side

METHOD:

The porcelain is about 1/16″ thick.  The original surface treatment includes some impressing, including linen from my family; some images are silk screened.  The buttons are cast.  The final surface treatment is barrel firing, a post-firing reduction technique.  It is impossible to predict the specific outcome of these firings, although the use of certain chemicals and organics and placement in the barrel can influence outcomes somewhat.  In this instance, all the pieces were placed together between two grates at the bottom of the barrel, so they had very similar exposure to the fire.  The harmony of the patina with the content of the elements is in this instance especially rewarding.

Barrel-Firing the Porcelain Elements

The pieces are mounted to 1″ board that has multiple layers of tinted and burnished plaster applied to the surface, derived from the technique for producing Venetian plaster.

The Living Grid is a ceramic and encaustic collage of high density life.  It is a torso of a building.  It is a series of quiet, unsentimental vignettes capturing a moment in time.  It is a commentary on our relationships to one another, and on what is revealed.  It is a beautiful mosaic, and an opportunity for voyeurism (with modest reward).

The windowpanes are stained porcelain.  The curtains are glazed porcelain.  The third, rear element is photographs on silk, placed on poster board with encaustic.  The frame is patinated aluminum made by Christopher Gay in consultation with Karyn Rovner.

Living Grid was a labor-intensive project.  I was fortunate to have a powerful inspiration that was so specific.  I had the means to do what it took to make the piece, and I had the time.  Undertaking and completing this project was an exercise in drinking thirstily.  Making and finishing Living Grid was an imperative.

Living Grid, Side View 87.5"W x 39.6"H x 4.5"D

This project began in earnest in May of 2008 when I began the planning process.  By December 2008 I knew how the elements would relate to one another and how they would be installed.  My sister Rondi Vasquez joined me as studio assistant and we began fabrication and extensive testing of finishes.  In June of 2009, Lisa Ellena joined our team as studio helper.  Rondi and Lisa are both outstanding craftsmen, adding wonderful insights and useful suggestions that enhanced the piece.

CURTAINS

Each curtain or set of porcelain curtains has its own character, defined by the clay used, the unique glaze and of course the technique for shaping the thin porcelain.  The clay is most beautiful when unspoiled by human handling.  It can be guided as it is being placed on a surface; the free form effect is from letting the clay do what it wants.  Of course, the pleated curtains had to submit to structured technique.  In the studio, the former became known as the coutourier curtains.  The latter were the JC Penney curtains.  As the installation progressed over the months, there were fewer and fewer curtains from JC Penney.

The curtain glazes are from Laguna’s Moroccan Sand whites, doctored with an EPK/dolomite mix and colored with oxides or mason stains.  Everything was fired to cone 5.

COMPOSING

The first layer to balance was the curtain layer including elements of full, partial and paired curtains and blank, curtainless units.  I had percentages of each needed for each section and the total composition.  The same was true when curtain color was introduced.  The photographs have subtle variations in palette that had to be considered, too.

Rondi Studying the Layout of Unglazed Elements

PRINTING ON SILK

The original Living Grid series includes photos of domestic scenes printed onto silk and encased in wax.  The smaller Living Grid series (in the Baltic birch frames) plays with point of view:  Several of the pieces look out into the California landscapes and sky; some have no silk image, allowing the windowpanes in the piece to frame a real view.

The most difficult part of attaching the image was the modest unevenness of the porcelain backs.  The original concept was to create a translucent work which would require all porcelain.  We realized that the triptych need not have porcelain backs because the frame would be wall-mounted.  While Living Grid 1 has porcelain backs (with a frame with a removable back), the triptych has heavy posterboard backing which made attaching the silk a dream.

Living Grid Close-Up

Balancing the palette was a major element in the project.  The colors needed to be predominantly neutral with just the right punctuation in brightness.  The patina had to be matte, or the curtains would look like shower curtains.  We added kiln wash to some of the recipes, but mostly relied on 15% EPK/Dolomite.  Thank you Richard Burkett!

Testing Blues

The porcelain windowpanes take 30 minutes to make, and an additional 10 minutes to stain after bisquing; another 10 minutes after firing is required to attach the wire-glue-silk for suspending.

 FRAMING

Arne Aase’s porcelain tiles suspended with PVC tubing and yarn [www.arneaase.com/] was a source of inspiration for construction.  Living Grid had three layers of porcelain elements so it made sense to suspend the elements from an upper slat.  The windowpanes should be as close together as possible while choosing a slat that wouldn’t bow under the weight of the porcelain elements, or under its own weight across the span.

It was at about this time that my sister Rondi was becoming a part of the project.  The architect Karyn Rovner and metal artist Christopher Gay  consulted with us on frame construction and attachment.  On Karyn’s advice, we used jeweler’s wire and crimping beads, threading the wire through drilled holes in the slats and crimping them from above.  The frame Christopher made for us as the final mockup had 15 units and was made out of steel, with a span of about 30″.   We created special cradles to hold the slats while we threaded the wire through.  Threading the elements into the slates is one of the more exacting tasks.

While the larger Living Grid pieces (1,2,3,4) are framed in steel and aluminum, wood was used for the smaller (5-10 unit) frames.  Tony Rotter is a wonderful woodworker who created custom plywood for us in Baltic birch.  The slats slip neatly into the back of the frame and the piece can be freestanding or wall-hung.  The smaller pieces are especially effective when backlit by daylight.

Backlit porcelain

INSPIRATION

The Living Grid project began when I saw a compelling photograph by Yann Arthus-Bertrand.  It was featured in an exhibition of his photographs that was outdoors on the grounds of the British Museum.  Taken on a bright Sao Paulo day, the photograph is of a Cortiço, a tenement, in a favela, a slum.  The section of the facade forms grids within grids, apartments with windowpanes, many without glass.  The curtains added another layer of complexity to the facade, with shapes and colors as unique as fingerprints.  Laundry was strung across many of the windows.  Because of the brightness of the exterior, the interiors were practically black, revealing dim geometric forms and the occasional figure.  The photograph’s direct view into these units invites scrutiny but the darkness thwarts the voyeur.  I learned by chance that this shabby, recklessly constructed building is a knock-off of the rear facade of a building in Sao Paulo by the noted architect Oscar Niemeier (who designed the capitol buildings in Brasilia.)  The Niemeier building is one of the largest dwellings in the world, called the Copan building.  It is now run-down, but it is by far more middle class, and ultimately served as a valuable reference for The Living Grid.

This is a photo of the photo, how it appeared to me.  The most faithful representation of the image can be seen at Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s website:  http://www.yannarthusbertrand.org/v2/home_us.htm

While it would have been technically fun to try to achieve verisimilitude in recreating the favela of the above slum, I realized I could not defend that decision.  Loving the texture of the facade was not reason enough to depict the lives of people about whom I knew so little.  For the level of effort involved, I had to find my own truth, to depict things honestly, arising from my own life.

Ceramic art often revolves around renderings of teapots, from simple to complex, as:  an homage to the Asian legacy in ceramic mastery; an object offering challenges for skill development; an opportunity to make something both creative and useful; a framework for interpretive work.  I don’t do teapots.  I do the dress instead.  At the recent American Museum of Ceramic Art show, Stefanie Gruenberg provided a retrospective of her work, which is almost exclusively horses, which have been her passion for several decades.  I was so pleased to see that she found a lifetime of creativity in a single form.  Dresses aren’t always the centerpiece of what I’m doing, but I have an abiding interest in making them.

The form of the dress is unmistakably iconic for a vast range of female experiences, even for women who don’t wear dresses.  I reference the body when I make a dress.  The shape of dresses has technical challenges for form and surface treatment that still seem limitless, even after all the years I have spent making dresses.  Dresses can be made with a range of size and complexity, which means a range of price points.  I can make small, easily rendered dresses for craft fairs, and continue to challenge myself to make larger, more intricate dresses for living room walls, conference rooms and building lobbies!

Porcelain Doll Dresses

These ceramic dresses are made from castings of the doll dresses my mother played with in the 1920s, or they carry the imprint of embroidery from those dresses.  Many are dresses that my grandmother made herself, and her stitching is visible in the porcelain.  So is the lace.  The dresses are relics of my family history as a sister, daughter and granddaughter.  I’m delighted that I can share this side of life with others.  I’m proud to say that my brother-in-law is a fan!

I’m not understating things when I say that clothing was extremely important when I was growing up.   Suffice it to say it was too important.  What I love about working with dresses now is that they become the canvas where I can comment on the substance behind the dress, provide evidence of life.  I can also provide sweet decor when I’m not plumbing the depths.  All good.

The pictures of my mother in her childhood show that she was very well-dressed.  Later on, she made her own good choices.  Her dresses were a source of joy and pride for her, even a refuge.  I finally understand that this was what she had to give her six girls.  It was the terrain where she was most confident.  Yes, she conflated surface with substance, suffering for it mightily.  But she also conveyed a passion for design and execution that I treasure.  The neat stitching at the waistband on this ceramic dress, the puckered fabric at the neck, the depth of the hem, the simplicity of the surface, the tracings of the gathered fabric all delight me.  This dress is beautifully proportioned, and it transmits information about a girl’s childhood that is widely shared and treasured.  Much can be imputed onto this simple garment.

JAPAN

Winter and Spring, 2011

Here is the dress as canvas.  This dress was a petticoat my mother wore in about 1928.  You can see the stitching at the hemline.  The piece alludes to the female form, and the surface decoration cannot be divorced from that association.  This dress was made just after the Japanese tsunami wrought its devastation on northeastern Japan and became a means for me to express the anguish and sympathy I feel.

SHADOW BOXES

My sister Kathy and her husband Charlie have a number of my dresses and they have done them the honor of placing them in custom-built shadow boxes.  They look great!  All dressed up …..