Shifting Up
Erin Furimsky
White earthenware
Art Dimensions: 9" x 7" x 6"
Exhibition - Iowa Clay Conference | River 2 River
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Artist Statement
The ceramic forms I build are meticulously constructed by hand. Taking advantage of the clay's plasticity, I push and swell the walls to create volume that imparts sensuality and intrigue to the forms. Like brocade stretched to cover an overstuffed chair, my pieces reveal a sense of expansion as if one form is gently surrounding another. Each piece beckons to be held in the hands, and perhaps brought close to the face, to listen and examine with a greater intensity. On the surface, a complex layering of pattern and color evolves as the clay is worked at each stage. Precise patterns carved deeply into clay’s surface merge with the form, inviting the decoration to become structure. There is a push and pull in my work. I extract and reconstruct elements of functional domestic forms, at one time referencing, at another abstracting, their familiar roles within our culture. My investigation encompasses not only the aesthetic qualities of familiar objects, but also their symbolic functions within our lives. I investigate where these two realms overlap and what happens when the decorative aspect becomes the function. One person may perceive the delicate edge of a lace curtain as trivial and unnecessary, while another may experience it as an intimate reminder that they live in a loving home.
Artist Biography
Erin Furimsky is a practicing studio artist in Bloomington, Illinois whose work focuses on the relationship of sculptural form with highly ornamented surfaces. She received a BFA from the Pennsylvania State University (1997) and an MFA from The Ohio State University (2002). Furimsky has exhibited her work nationally with inclusions of her work in international exhibitions in China and Taiwan. Her work has been included in over one hundred group and solo exhibitions, with reproductions of her ceramic work being featured in numerous books and catalogs. Critical reviews of Furimskys’ work have appeared on several occasions in the journals Ceramics Monthly and Ceramics Art and Perception. Furimsky was nominated and chosen as an emerging artist by the National Council on Education of the Ceramic Arts. She has been the recipient of numerous artist residencies, including the Archie Bray Foundation, The Red Lodge Clay Center, The Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts and the Oregon College of Art and Design. She is featured in a number streaming videos on Ceramic Arts Network. As an educator Furimsky has been a featured presenter at national workshops, as well as serving as a visiting professor at Illinois State University and Heartland Community College, both in Normal, IL.
