Maddie Fowler

The core of my work revolves around a keen interest in the history of ceramics and a fascination with intersection of food, ceramic vessels and culture. I seek to make direct forms that allow for layers of decoration. The surfaces of the vessels I make represent a visual intersection of urban and rural built environments. Lines that make up windows and doors, houses and stores, paved paths and rails, are paired with crop rows, distant fence lines and solitary barns. Drawn to the work of Sean Scully, Agnes Martin and Kazimir Malevich, I apply colored blocks of slip over my dark stoneware which then gets a blanket of white terra sigillata as a calm neutral background. The colored slips and underglazes are small pockets of hidden color and bold lines that frame the pot and establish a structure to a final linear composition.

Cooking is a deep passion of mine. As a potter, it presents opportunities to design specific forms that I used in food preparation and service. I pull inspiration from meals and foods I customarily prepare, whether it be an oil and salt set I use daily or a large pitcher I bring out occasionally. My work is intended to be used on a daily basis and also an object of intrigue when not in use.