Still Life Vase #10

1990

Betty Woodman is one of the preeminent ceramic artists working today. In her pieces she combines traditional techniques and materials with her own innovations, constantly crossing the boundaries between fine arts and crafts to extend the possibilities of ceramics. Still-Life Vase #10, from a series begun in 1990, displays the boldness of this artist’s approach. A fully developed large vase is the core of the piece, but its form gets almost obliterated by the dramatically painted surface. Large protruding wings, or handles, attached at the sides are themselves shaped as incomplete, flat vessels adorned with handles and other protrusions. Thus, the piece presents an arrangement of objects in space, a fundamental feature of the still-life genre in visual art.