Artist Statement

In the early 1990’s, my studio began revolving around the creation of functional pottery. One encounters my work visually, physically and conceptually, and in this way, it fosters a multi-faceted, sensual experience that communicates my interest in the richness, beauty and diversity of human existence. Pottery form, in its inherent relationship to the human body (i.e., lip, neck, belly), speaks to the viewer/user through anthropomorphic familiarity and an implication of direct physical contact.  Thus, pottery evokes a participatory, physical and intellectual experience that makes it uniquely powerful and real.

A marked departure from my earlier explorations is evident in some of my most current, work. These non-functional, sculptural pieces are conceptually rooted in functional pottery – as explorations of the ideas of containment, service, interior vs. exterior, and in exemplifying the tactile sensations that are inherent in the use of pots. This creative research speaks of an inquiry into human sensory perception through the use of voluptuous form, rich, uncommon surface, and implied use. The work is interactive and relational in that one must touch and handle the pieces in order to fully comprehend their potential as tactile objects. Anomalous in form and function, these works are strangely erotic, sensual and tumescent in nature, evoking excitement and titillation in the viewer. They beckon for the hand to reach out and provide an experience beyond the visual.

I am continually searching for ways to express the thoughtful concerns of form and function that pottery encompasses. Sometimes these concerns lead me to create functional ware; sometimes I focus entirely on sculptural form and surface; and at times, I walk the very fine and undefined line between pottery and what most people consider to be “sculpture”. By approaching my studio practice with this fresh perspective, I seek to bestow something substantial and new to the aesthetic and functional concerns of pottery. This, I feel, is the challenge presented to potters/artists working within our modern context: to examine previous definitions of form and function and contemporize those concepts by creating work that is truly thought provoking. 

Joe Davis