Robin Murphy Ceramics
Artist Statement
My work has undergone
major transitions the past two years, from functional ceramics to animal and
figurative sculpture. I have always been interested in sculptural work but
didn't know where to begin. It's difficult to try something new when you
have achieved a certain level of success with your present artistic direction.
The initial animal pieces were simple silhouettes resting in
pot-like forms and highly decorated. Once I decided to abandon the
pot and just make the animals/figures, a new door opened artistically for
me. Function and decoration were no longer the issue, it was now about the
animals/figures and how they exist as objects in contemporary society; what
are they doing, asking, implying. Those questions became the basis for investigation.
Each piece presents a range of didactic possibilities. How
the work exists sculpturally as a 3-dimensional piece is layered with the
emotional response posture, gaze, surface treatment, etc., suggests. How
to marry the particular animal or figurative form with this myriad of possibilities
is the challenge. The reward begins at that extraordinary moment of
recognition within the clay, whether intended or something surprisingly different,
but you see it and work with it to completion; then, give it to the world
and begin again.