Progress
2012
Clay in the hands of Alwyn O’Brien is like lyric poetry - personal expressions of the artist’s experiences and life stories. In Progress, O’Brien first created the white, glazed porcelain work. While it was in the kiln, she attempted to recreate the piece from memory, in manganese-stained clay. A skilled technician with an MFA from the University of Washington, O’Brien describes shedding control in the process, leaving behind pristine vessel forms. While these are vase-like shapes with classically styled bases, they are created from filaments of clay, energetically woven in web-like patterns inspired by a series of etchings, Imaginary Prisons, ca. 1750, by Giovanni Piranesi (1720-1778). Evoking historic European works that she has carefully studied, O’Brien creates something completely new. The artist also sees Progress evoking memories of the skeletal steel remains of the World Trade Towers after 9/11/2001.
Manganese clay
24 3/8 x 7 3/4 x 6 in. (61.9 x 19.7 x 15.2 cm)
Margaret E. Fuller Purchase Fund, Modern Art Acquisition Fund, and Decorative Arts Acquisition Fund
2012.28.1a
Provenance: The artist; [James Harris Gallery, Seattle, Washington]; purchased from gallery by Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2012
