THE LOVE OF A GHOST

THE LOVE OF A GHOST
low fire ceramic with rust finish
work dates: spring 2014

A brief word on titles. Each title is generated after the piece is complete. The titles have to be somewhat lyrical and brief in order to add another layer to the work. Since I am not making work that is necessarily about anything narrative I don't feel the titles have to give away any sense of meaning. If you've ever overheard a snip of conversation in public, or on the radio, that resonated with you and replays in your head (and you have) then you know were the titles come from. Most of the time I fuse words from different sound bites into these brief half-a-line-poems and marry them with the appropriate work. I read a lot so words are important to me. I see the titles as a chance to enhance the work on a formal level.

DISQUIET

DISQUIET
low fire ceramic with red finish
work date: spring 2014

Taking time off in between works can allow for unexpected changes in the work. Subtle nips and tucks in my minds eye over time led me to disregard the roller coaster as a source of inspiration and move towards structures, both real and imagined, as my primary concern. This is one of three pieces constructed over a week in the spring of 2014 after5 having sometime away from the studio. Sometimes the work comes in waves.

This work will be exhibited along with 13 others next month in Baltimore. More details on the show soon (on this page). Other show info and pics can be found on my instagram account @m_voelker_art

LONELY HOURGLASS

LONELY HOURGLASS
low fire ceramic with yellow finish
work date: spring 2013

One of my favorite modes of abstraction is deconstruction. Both this piece and WORDS IN THE DIRT are at the start of leaving the whole circle behind. By offsetting more and more circles on a few different planes I am able to enhance the movement or sense of vertigo one might get from an actual rollercoaster.

As deconstruction allows me to leave the circle behind, the work now begins to move away from the idea of referencing roller coasters specifically. Now I can focus on the broader venues of structure, movement, and whimsy.

As always on instagram... @m_voelker_art

ABSOLUTELY SILENT

ABSOLUTELY SILENT
low fire ceramic with lilac finish
work dates: winter/spring 2013

I had a terrific painting teacher once tell me that at the end of a painting session use the remaining paint on the palette to generate another image so as not to have the paint go to waste. She called it a palette painting. I tried it and over time these came to be some of the more interesting paintings in my portfolio.

This piece was done form the leftover parts that I had at the end of a clay studio session, it is a palette painting of sorts, a little clunky and small but another opportunity to explore none-the-less

WORD IN THE DIRT

WORDS IN THE DIRT
low fire ceramic with chalkboard finish
work dates winter/spring 2013

Abstraction continues... why do the circles have to be whole? Do they still read as circles when severed and/or relocated? how little information can I give and still reference a circle?

Often my work starts with questions like these. I spend time answering them and the sequence of resultant work documents the path I have taken.  For me the object as a document is important because often I have to take long breaks from artmaking. When I return to the work I like to have a foundation from which to draw new ideas and compositions. This body of work is over three years in the making due to several hiatuses that could not be avoided.  The works in the studio right now, just coming out of the kiln, have a strong connection to these but they are currently at a place I could not have perceived. Time and inspiration are under no obligation to let you know what they have in store for you. More on that soon.

and as always on instagram @m_voelker_art

MONSTER MAN

MONSTER MAN
low fire ceramic with deep red finish
work date winter 2012/13

After establishing the circle and shifting the circle, next we break the circle and turn it back on itself. I used three separate circles in the design of this work to change the sense of balance and give the slightest hint of tension. See more on instagram @m_voelker_art

DAY UNDONE

DAY UNDONE
low fire ceramic with key lime finish
work date: summer 2012

Just a little push and the circle creates a foreshortened illusion. This iteration was the first departure from concentric circles. The movement increases the sense of vertigo one feels being whipped around the turns of a coaster.  As time wore on I became more interested with the compositional possibilities of the circle, still working with notions of structure and infinity, but foregoing the idea that the works had to directly reference a roller coaster. Stay tuned for more work and it will become apparent. feel free to view more works on instagram @m_voelker_art

SOFT SERVE

SOFT SERVE
low fire clay with orange finish
work date: summer 2012

The circle made sense. Starting from the ground up it was the simplest representation of a loop, of infinity. This (and all of the early pieces in this line of work) was influenced by wooden roller coaster construction. That is to say not just the visual power that a roller coaster has, in its ability to inspire fear and whimsy at the same time; but rather in the amount of work, mathematics, and physics that went into designing a structure used for amusement.