R a d a r
C e r a m i c
A p p r o p r i a t i o n s
Stephanie DeArmond’s sculp-
tural letterforms are not easily
defined by art-school limitations
of sculpture, vessel and design.
Her work humorously appropri-
ates text from American sub-
culture and abstracts it into aes-
thetic form, as in
Cross-stitch
T
©. DeArmond’s sculpture
evokes the preciousness and
innocence of your grandmoth-
er’s china cabinet, yet a closer
reading reveals unexpected
phrases, like that in
Best/Beast
© . The artist often cites lyrics
taken directly from American
pop-cultural forces like hip-hop
and indie rock. “I use rap lyrics
because I am interested in con-
necting that kind of culture to
fine china,” she says. “I love the
idea of rappers with gold rings
and baggy pants with a grandma
drinking out of a teacup. I love
how culturally distant they are
from each other, but I person-
ally have interest in both.”
DeArmond’s contrast of
material meaning with cultural
content is just one of many
layers of the high/low juxtapo-
sitions employed in her work.
Fueled by an interest in reflect-
ing her cultural experiences,
DeArmond sets out to revital-
ize ceramics as a medium fit for
art, design and craft. “I am com-
pelled by that argument of art
versus craft,” she says. “I am
putting energy into a field that
some people think is not an
American cultural force. Then
you look at the current craft
movement [in America]—all
these young people doing cross-
stitch and ceramics.”
In 2008, DeArmond made
an influential move to Holland
for two years. Her time there
changed how she thinks of ce-
ramics as a material. “In Hol-
land all the objects made were
slip cast. [This industrial pro-
cess] sidesteps the whole art/
craft debate in ceramics because
it’s a different way of working
from the very beginning. It
changed how I think of the ma-
terials I work with. The materi-
als don’t have to have baggage;
ceramics can have connections
to other fields that are legiti-
mized and valued as they are
in Dutch culture.”
By employing simplified
forms, modern fonts and a
brighter palette, DeArmond is
taking a new direction. “I want
the work to be more like an ex-
truded block,” she says. I want
it to be read as sculptural form,
something plain. I’m interested
in it being an abstraction.”
With its sources in youth
culture and its departure from
the floral decals used in her ear-
lier work, DeArmond’s newest
work points less to the decora-
tive arts and converses more
directly with contemporary
industrial ceramics and design.
Exhibiting internationally has
been exciting for the artist
because of the language and
cultural differences, which fur-
ther abstract the content of
her work. “In Europe, it’s funny
how they appropriate hip-hop
culture and how it sifts through
their cultural filters. It comes
out as this weird thing you don’t
recognize. I find that really in-
spiring, like people with aT -
shirt with an English phrase on
it that is slightly mistranslated.
There’s humor there. It’s not
always perfect. I think it’s fun-
ny outside of my own experi-
ence how someone else reads
the work. It becomes most in-
teresting when it is taken out
of context.”—
M O L L Y H A T C H
Molly Hatch is a ceramist and
writer living in Florence, MA.
H o t S p o ts
L o o k e r s
Gallery shows, listed A - Z by
state. View complete calendar:
americancraftmag.org
A Z /Tem pe
Arizona State University
A rt Museum Ceramics
Research Center
A Chosen Path: The Ceramic
Art of Karen Karnes
to Jan. 8
asuartmuseum.asu.edu/
ceramicsresearchcenter
This touring retrospective
exhibition features 69 works
by Karnes, a seminal artist of
the studio pottery movement.
C A / Graton
A rt Honors Life ®
/
The Gallery at FU N ER IA
Ashes to Art*'
Oct. 23-Dec. 18
funeria.com
Memorial art celebrates life
in this competition.
C A / Los Angeles
© Craft and Folk A rt Museum
Borderlandia: Cultural
Topography by Einar and
Jamex de la T orre
to Jan. 9
cafam.org
In glass sculpture, the brothers
tackle issues of cultural duality
in Southern California.
oct/n ovio am erican craft o n
