baroque humor in porcelain

June 1, 2010 10:18 AM

Kate MacDowell creates the most stunning sculptures with porcelain, discovering that the “romantic ideal of union with the natural world conflicts with our contemporary impact on the environment."

Bio on her site.

posted by nickyskye (20 comments total)

Love this. Thank you. Her stance reminds me of my favorite artist, photographer Joel Peter Witkin.
posted by xenophile at 10:59 AM on June 1, 2010

nice body horror.
posted by ennui.bz at 11:04 AM on June 1, 2010

SG: Where do you currently live and work?
KM: In Portland, Oregon

Knew it.
posted by wcfields at 11:40 AM on June 1, 2010

Wow. Bernini, meet Cronenberg.
posted by condour75 at 11:44 AM on June 1, 2010

Simultaneously attractive and repulsive.

Like a train wreck.

Or modern political discourse.
posted by darkstar at 12:14 PM on June 1, 2010

Did she make those frogs before or after she learned of the mutations in the Willamette river?
posted by Cranberry at 12:35 PM on June 1, 2010

These are fantastic, thank you. Her technique is amazing.
posted by jokeefe at 12:52 PM on June 1, 2010

I love the detail on these. There's lots and lots of things to draw the eye and keep you looking and thinking after the first glance. Awesome!
posted by lriG rorriM at 1:15 PM on June 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

very sad and beautiful - thanks
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:48 PM on June 1, 2010

This is amazing work - thanks!
posted by dbmcd at 2:25 PM on June 1, 2010

My first thought: the coming reaction of some 31^st century archaeologist unearthing an entire roomful of these amidst the usual Big-Gulp-cup-and-AOL-disk detritus of Western civilization.

Thanks, nickyskye, these are pretty cool.
posted by hat at 2:55 PM on June 1, 2010

OMG Metachat Explained!
Safety Bunneh!
Funny, creepy, beautiful. Thanks.
posted by not_on_display at 3:43 PM on June 1, 2010

I used to teach high-school English and later produced hi-tech websites. After the dot-com bust my husband and I moved to India for a year and half and worked at a meditation retreat center. We came back back to the states by way of Italy, and I found myself living in my parent’s house again for a few months, without a job, and with a head full of fantastic tropical plants and animals, and classical and baroque marble sculpture. I started taking a local clay class while we figured out what to do next....

How depressing that cv has to be to second raters who have always wanted to be artists.

Good stuff.
posted by IndigoJones at 3:45 PM on June 1, 2010

These are just the decoys I've been looking for. Do you have to paint them yourself?
posted by hal9k at 4:19 PM on June 1, 2010

"Basically I’d like to create a pile of life-sized dead sea life out of fired porcelain or white clay, the volume of a school bus, with here and there a brightly colored orange roughy visible, the actual intended “catch” which is not discarded."

I don't know about you guys but that sounds pretty neat to me.
posted by tuck_nroll at 5:18 PM on June 1, 2010

Wow, awesome. Had no interest in the post by its description. Not sure why I clicked, but glad I did.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 6:19 PM on June 1, 2010

Those are gorgeous. Thanks for posting.
posted by findango at 7:13 PM on June 1, 2010

Great post.
posted by Toecutter at 8:21 PM on June 1, 2010

“romantic ideal of union with the natural world conflicts with our contemporary impact on the environment."

No shit?
posted by kenko at 9:27 PM on June 1, 2010

Lovely. Can't wait to see the by-catch one when she gets the time/money for it.
posted by harriet vane at 2:56 AM on June 2, 2010