A New Clay Relief: "Points"

Points, painted porcelain, 7 1/4 x 10 1/4 in.

In developing compositions for my recent clay reliefs I've alternated between images that were invented abstractions, worked up from thumbnail sketches, and those that were inspired by photos of agricultural implements, like the ones I use for my paintings. Points is one of the invented ones, and it's possible it will be the last. I think that my "found" images have more unusual juxtapositions of forms, so are more interesting to me. Another thing I realize is that I love working with complexity in these reliefs: multiple forms overlapping in various depths; it is challenging and engaging. The thought of doing very minimal compositions in clay does not interest me at this time, as much as I love minimalism.

Points

I am showing two photographs of this piece, shot in different light, each of which highlight a certain part of the sculpture. The top photo makes the outward-angled horizontal in the center more clear, while the second photo, with its light coming from the left, shows the curved form of the main downward truncated triangle.

Points detail

While sculpting this piece I attempted to have a contrast between the crisp clarity of the triangular shapes and the somewhat softer surface and edges of the background spaces. In this detail, you can see the sharp edge on the bottom left and the irregular edge on the right. I am feeling my way, with much uncertainty, as I work on these reliefs.