The work of Professor of Art Rebecca Murtaugh and Jackie Brown '04 is featured in Relic Drift, a two-person sculptural ceramics exhibition at Sediment Arts in Richmond, Va. The artists will discuss their work in an artist talk on Zoom on Wednesday, July 8, at 5 p.m. Curator Debbie Quick will facilitate the talk.
Through the materiality of clay, Brown and Murtaugh connect past, present, and future by generating ceramic sculptures imbued with the evidence of human existence. Both artists make work in response to the messy unpredictability of human life. Acting as scientists and archivists, they examine, hypothesize, and question the relationship between human beings and the natural world.
Brown’s sculptural installations record the limitless potential for growth through the mimetic process of ceramic mold making. Her installations work as invasive organic systems, growing through organized cellular process, yet appear to be random and chaotic.
Murtaugh’s new ceramic sculptures examine the evidence of human mark making, employing the malleable nature of clay to directly evidence process and touch. Using handmade tools, Murtaugh paddles, pinches, cuts, and pierces the clay, and then surfaces the work with a vibrant palette of glaze, emphasizing tension between the constructed object and its textural surface. The resulting pieces reference historical ceramic sculpting processes, geological phenomena and natural rock formations.
Originally scheduled for March, the opening of Relic Drift was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The exhibition is free and open to the public by appointment only until July 15. Two visitors are allowed at a time and face masks are required.
