On Tuesday, September the 22nd, we had our first sculpture critique. I just wanted to share pics of some of the other students' sculptures. They were so diverse and exciting.

I just wanted to share some of the pictures Robin and I took in the woods that I plan on installing the funerary markers.

This is a vase I'm working on in ceramics class. Though it is not a part of the Funerary Markers project, I just thought it was interesting that my functional ware is starting to take on some of the qualities of the totems.

Here are my most recent "totems". Do you recognize any of the parts from the last post?

Sunbathing

I just wanted to show the process in creating the the markers. I throw many cylinders on the wheel, allow them to try to leather hard in the sun, then assemble them.

In the fall of 2006, I saw these and other totem poles in the Pacific Northwest. While ancient Greek funerary urns inspired the concept for my markers, I believe totems like these in Victoria inspired my method of stacking.

Geometric Amphora from Dipylon Cemetery, Athens

I was really inspired by large (over five feet high) vessels used as grave markers, like this one, made nearly 800 years before the common era. Made in the geometric style, vessels featured scenes of the funerary procession, complete with mourners tearing their hair in grief.

I was inspired by ancient Greek grave markers (sculptures and vessels) and totems (particularly those of the Pacific Northwest Native Americans). For me, these markers represent people who are no longer present and the bonds that remain. I am continuing the project this semester by producing many more markers and installing them in a wooded area in Hattiesburg.

Back to School

Fall is on its way and it's so exciting to be back at school at the University of Southern Mississippi. I've got a lot going on with planning a wedding, working at Barnes and Noble, and taking ceramics and sculpture classes but I feel that it's going to be a successful semester. I'm continuing the ceramic funerary markers project I started in the spring. I began throwing simple cylinders on the wheel and then altering and stacking them. The method of production felt very freeing to me, and it became a project that felt good to me (better than anything else I've ever done in ceramics and sculpture).