Artist Statement

With clay, I try to create the effects of intimacy and vastness through the use of fragmentation. Small surface elements draw the viewer into a larger context where hundreds of parts interact to form a whole.

Marks of color, texture and layers of powdered ceramic stain are revealed as finished surfaces after the firing. As I choose powders of one imagined hue to mingle with another, I know that every bit of pigment, though hidden in the powdered mixture, will affect the whole. Results of this initial process become the chaos of fragments from which I work. Each element becomes a discovery.

Comments

Potter/sculptor Elizabeth MacDonald of Connecticut and New York works in clay. Her most intriguing designs are rectangular slabs with an archaeological or geological effect. Their earth-toned layers and striations give the effect of a mountainous landscape, a glimpse beneath the surface of the earth, or a close look at one of nature's exquisite details. Her aim is to convey, through contrasting textures, shapes and surfaces, an intuitive awareness of time and space.

Kathleen Samsot Hawk

Art Voices

January/February 1981

Bio

Ms. MacDonald, who lives in Bridgewater, Connecticut, has been the recipient of numerous awards, and in 1999 received the Governor's Arts Award in visual arts. She has most recently shown her work at The Century Association in New York City, and has completed commissions for the chapel in New Milford Hospital, and the Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven. Ms. MacDonald received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Chatham College, and she attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.