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Triptych

Photo: Paul Macapia

Triptych

1981

Robert Sperry

American, 1927-1998

When I work with slips over fired glazes, there is much that is accidental, especially in the way the cracks form. Yet I have considerable control by choosing the method of application. I can brush slip, pour it, trowel it, throw it, drop it, make it thin or thick. Each method will create different forms of cracking.
The force of a natural process - like gravity, a human gesture, an explosion, the hammering of a nail or the dropping of slip on a concave surface - produces a record of the moment of creation, as form is changed by the energy and material interaction. It is this moment of interaction that fascinates me...The idea of art as an event, rather than a description, appeals to me very much.

--Robert Sperry, "Abstractions in Black and White," Ceramics Monthly, vol. 38 no. 6 (June 1990)


Stoneware with glaze and slip
each 15 1/2 x 15 1/2 x 2 5/8 in. (39.4 x 39.4 x 6.6cm)
Anne Gould Hauberg Northwest Crafts Fund
82.123
Photo: Paul Macapia
location
Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Asian Affinities" August 28, 1999 - January 2, 2001

Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue Art Museum, "Robert Sperry: A Retrospective", November 23, 1985-January 12, 1986, Circuit Cheney Cowles Memorial Museum, Spokane, Washington, 2/14/86-3/16/86. (11/23/1985 - 01/12/1986)

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Views and Visions In The Pacific Northwest" June 7 - September 2, 1990, (06/07/1990 - 09/02/1990)

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Collection Highlights: 1945 To The Present", September 12, 1996 - June 1, 1997, (09/12/1996 - 06/01/1997)
Published ReferencesJohns, Barbara. "Modern Art from the Pacific Northwest in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1990, no. 26, p. 30

American Museum of Ceramic Art, "Robert Sperry: Bright Abyss", 2008, pg. 47

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