‘Black Floor Pot’
75 x 68 x 80 by Jonathan Keep.
Keep is South African potter who lives and works in Suffolk in the UK. He is known for his digitally printed ceramics. Black Floor Pot is listed under the ‘analogue’ collection on Keep's website. Keep has been practising for over 30 years attending the prestigious Royal College of Art. Black Floor Pot is in ‘Breaking the Mould: New Approaches to Ceramics’ which was published in 2007, however it is not clear in the book, or on Keep's website when this piece was made. If I do find out, I will update it here.
'Black Floor Pot' work is made from clay, a sculpture of this size would need to be made from a clay body that can support uneven and asymmetrical shapes, possibly grogged stoneware. A look on Keep's Instagram page shows that most, if not all of his current work is created via digital printing. However in Breaking the Mould it states that this piece has been thrown 'When he throws his pots, he attempts to work from the inside out, intuitively finding the form of the internal shape and then creating the pot around it' (Hanaor 2007, p.172)
'Floor Pot' is a large bulbous ceramic form, dark in colour with tinges of burnt orange or brown. It appears burnished to a sheen, reflecting the light, in this picture we can see the light hitting the form from the left, highlighting the folds and swells. The shape rises from the floor widening and dividing into bubble like bulges, it is irregular and asymmetric. Reaching its widest point around midway up and then becoming slightly narrower. The top of the form is open, revealing a dark interior and a lip of uniform thickness. The height of the work means that the viewer would have to walk around the pot looking down into the empty space inside. To view the sides it would need to be seen from a distance or require the viewer to crouch down to the level of the work and tilt the head sideways, rather like talking to a child.
The work is formed of curves having no visible straight lines, squat in its stance, a small dumpy humanoid creature curled up into a fetal position as though shielding itself. It reflects light, the surface looks sumptuous, like shiny chocolate, the form gives the impression of weight and appears fully grounded and stable, connected to the earth. The lines are smooth, flowing and curved, if we didn't know it was made from clay, it might suggest a softness. The eye follows the lines on a journey around the form with no fixed focal point or end point, each line joining on to another and sending you off round again. The effect is organic, suggesting growth and fluidity.
Colours appear monochromatic, in hues of dark brown with patches leaning more towards a dark iron orange. The colours are natural, earthy and dark. Space is occupied in a contained way, the piece folds in on itself appearing solid, until you reach the opening at the top which reveals the dark, empty interior. Light reflects off the surface in a somewhat muted way like the surface of a chestnut. The form itself creates shadows, swollen protuberances of the form block light to areas that are illuminated by the light source.
Although asymmetric, the form is balanced, the smooth surface and monochromatic colours create a feeling of harmony. The silky smooth surface and natural undulating curves evoke calm, flowing motions. The curves appear to follow their natural path as though the artist has worked intuitively and responsively with the clay. The work has an anthropomorphic quality, the proportions suggest a small child, suggesting limbs, tummy and a head. The eye is drawn initially to the rotund belly and the folds that reflect light in the centre, then off along the curved lines taking in the limb like bumps and soft swelling protuberances.
This bulbous organic form suggests growth and swelling, the dark earthy colours hint at solid volcanic rock formations. The guarded closed humanoid form tucking into itself evokes thoughts of vulnerability and fragility, at the same time the solid grounded nature of the work hints at stability, stillness and attentiveness. The work is designed to be viewed from multiple view points and as such responding to a two dimensional image with out having the chance to walk around the work experience it in three dimensions, restricts the authenticity of the response. I believe the artist wanted the work to be experienced first hand, I myself want to touch it, get a sense of the weight of it and feel the temperature of the surface.
Having only ever seen a picture of the piece, and not had the opportunity to walk around and examine the work, I acknowledge that my analysis of the work is limited. That said, I was drawn to the work that I could see in the angle presented in the image, its smooth organic surface is reassuring and familiar, the smooth warm brown surface suggesting skin and warm soft bodies. It looks ancient, timeless, of the earth, suggesting potential, like a seed or a nut, as if it might sprout and grow, eternal in someway and deeply connected to nature. Are we witnessing the evidence of a conversation on form and surface between the artist and their material? That conversation now finished and frozen in time and fired into solid, long lasting form, calm, solid and grounded.
Keep's work is refined, hours of work would have gone into throwing, building and balancing the shapes, joining them, polishing and buffing the surface to a rich sheen. The image gives the sense the work has been smoothed and waxed rather than glazed. He manipulates the materials into a form that resonates with the earth, nature, growth, bodies and skin. The folds and crevices in the clay, like those in our own bodies, the natural curves and undulating bulges lend a sense of natural order unfolding.
In relation to my own work, I am instinctively drawn to the vessel, not always being able to justify why. This is the reason I am drawn to investigate. I too see and appreciate the anthropomorphic qualities of the vessel, the foot, the belly and the neck being commonly used language to describe ceramics that have the potential to contain. In evaluating Keep's work I want to know why he chose the vessel, he doesn't appear to intend the work to be used to contain anything other than the space it enfolds, therefore it must contain meaning in order to validate it. I relation to this in Breaking the Mould it states;
'His pieces deal with the universality of emotion-the way in which an object can elicit a universal gut-reaction. It is this universality that draws him to vessel forms...using the pot as a metaphor for the human body, he creates a dialogue between the 'skin', or the exterior of the pot, and the emotional interior'
I can connect with the idea of an object creating a gut reaction having felt it myself, most memorable when viewing the work of Anish Kapoor. I felt as though I was being physically sucked into the work itself. I can't say that Keep's work created such a strong physical response, it was more a feeling of connection and familiarity of being grounded, earthed.
The concept of the vessel as a metaphor for the human body, a 'skin' concealing an emotional interior, does work for me. The work is reminiscent of a small child, crouched protectively on the ground, suggesting a vulnerable interior to be protected. Whilst the exterior form has solidity, its colour is consistent and rich, it appears rooted to it's spot, suggesting the 'skin' or exterior is stronger than that which it cautiously holds within. This is justification for having the containing vessel shape, it is a metaphor that has been used many times in ceramic art. certainly one that I have used myself in my own work. I wonder if this reading of the vessel it obvious, tired and over used? Or is it in fact synonymous with the very nature of the vessel, inseparable and unavoidable? If so does this association limit or constrain the ways in which ceramics that take the form of a vessel can be read?
In exploring this work I feel I have deepened my understanding of the vessel in ceramics, but have also uncovered many more questions. I hope I will have the time in the future to deepen my knowledge and investigate further.
