Jane Shellenbarger

Artist Statement

My work focuses within a pottery idiom, often incorporating historical references with domestic objects. I work with dark clays, firing with atmospheric kilns. The pieces undergo multiple firings to achieve a depth of surface. I am intrigued with the ability of pots to transcend themselves as objects and convey information. My work attempts to draw relationships to history and culture through form and surface content. At its best the work becomes both an artifact and object of the contemporary world. As objects intersect with utility, they have the ability to choreograph domestic experience affecting people in a deep and interactive way. There is a need to keep these interactions vital. The rhythm of making pots is, for me, an endless pursuit to express ideas and define interaction through form.