Sarah B. McCann

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Curator's Statement

This exhibition shares the experience of living with ceramics. The vibrancy and joy of a life surrounded by unique objects with history, stories, shared experience and the visible reminder of the ones who made them. For me this is my house, serving dinner on dishes made by people I love, this is my work, serving artists so that they can keep creating, this is my life, surrounded by incredible people doing incredible things.

It is through these bonds that we create home, whether in a physical space (house), a community of people (family) or a neighborhood, city, the world. We strive to find a place where we can be truly cared for, loved and care for and love those around us. Ceramics provide a reciprocal relationship. We love the objects, the stories, the artists, they in turn provide the warmth (in a mug full of coffee), the beauty (in a work of art), the story (of how the object came to being) and the life (that led to where it is now). These connections are what create the tapestry of life, are the joyous pieces of life well lived, are the lessons in the fragility of that life as our objects show the wear of use and occasional break. There is also resiliency in the broken pieces finding another role, of the relationships continued, of new work created. From a wet lump of ground, a piece of clay is moulded, shaped, changed. The artist adds their skill, voice, heart and through the test of fire it is transformed. Much like ourselves ceramics are the result of a life lived, of connections forged, of beauty combined with utility, of transformation and of finding home.

There is a larger exhibition here, one that includes all the artists that I live with daily. Through photographs I have tried to represent what it is like to be able to set a table of unique individuals and then to surround oneself with loved ones for a meal. I have tried to represent the beauty added, the deepening of a personal and collective history, the ability of clay to provide utility and beauty simultaneously, to represent life in a layering of histories, personal narratives that overlap and are weaved into community.

- Sarah McCann, 2016

Bianka Groves, biscuit by Blacksauce Kitchen

Brice Dwyer and Sam Wallace

Marah Gaiti

Dishes left to right: Patty Bilbro, Tim Sherman, A. Blair Clemo, Bianka Groves, Jeremy Wallace, A. Blair Clemo, Gillian Parke, Matt Hyleck, Jim Dugan