Ceramics

I discovered my love for ceramics in 2017, and have since exhibited twice at the North Carolina Museum of Art’s “Art in Bloom,” where we are challenged to make floral arrangements inspired by art in the collection. I primarily make functional work, with a focus on vessels for plants.

Inspired by the painting “Piano (for Duke Ellington)” by Robert Moskowitz, my sister Margo Greenawald and I aimed to create a piece that made the imagery of this abstract piece of art more clear and alluded to the jazzy nature of Duke Ellington’s music through flowers.

We knew pretty quickly that our vessel would be a piano, and I set to work learning to slab build and work larger than I’m accustomed to. Margo had a brilliant vision to lean into the simple color palette and showcase all the texture and color that greenery can give an arrangement. She made what can often be the background element of florals the main event, and made it look like beautiful music pouring from the piano.

Why the roses? We learned from our research that Ellington was good friend with Tony Bennett, and would send Tony pink roses to let him know every time he finished writing a new song. It was too cute not to include, and also makes me think of the bouquet that a musician might get at the end of a performance.

This piece was inspired by Louise Bourgois’ “Spiral Woman” sculpture, depicting a tiny woman wrapped in a spiraling rope of hair, hanging above a black abyss. She has described this work as being tied to her difficult childhood, and representative of the eternal struggle between freedom and control.

“The spiral is an attempt at controlling the chaos,” she said of this shape she explored frequently in her work. “It had two directions. Where do you place yourself, at the periphery or at the vortex? Beginning at the outside is the fear of losing control; the winding in is a tightening, a retreating, a compacting to the point of disappearance. Beginning at the center is affirmation, the move outward is a representation of giving, and giving up control; of trust, positive energy, of life itself.”

In our take, we wanted to combine our floral and ceramics skills to explore the beauty that can emerge from chaos and hardship, something so many of us have experienced in moments of beauty, connection, and care over the past few years.