Earth, Air, Fire, Water

EAFW_view of room walls ceramics red chair in foreground

EAFW_view of room walls ceramics on shelves blue background

EAFW_room view fireplace in center open shelves right

EAFW_view of room walls window center chandelier right ceiling

EAFW_ earth wall_detail of squirrel in branches

EAFW_earth wall_animal skulls on black stands

EAFW_air wall_butterflies in jars large beetles on print

room dimensions: 14' x 15'

2020

mixed media

In 2020, the Chipstone Foundation asked me to create a permanent installation for their gallery of early British and North American ceramics. For this project, using the theme of earth, air, fire and water, I created small tableaus containing natural history specimens, objects, and facsimiles of historic print material.

The Greeks sought to explain the complexity and processes of the material world through the classification of all substances as either earth, air, fire or water. Variations of this philosophical division of matter existed in many cultures across time. In Europe it lasted throughout the Middle Ages and into the early Renaissance.

In the case of ceramics, this theme ties together an examination of materials and processes used to create ceramic objects with the ways that makers observed nature and used it as a source of design inspiration.

Earth, Air Fire, Water is permanently installed in the ceramics collection room at the Chipstone Foundation's headquarters in Milwaukee.