FRANK CARSEY

Frank Carsey, Ceramic Sculptor

Artist statement

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I make ceramic forms of abstract, figurative nature. These vessels may be derived from the torso or from basic bottles. Artist statement below.

Featured artist June 2019

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I am the featured artist at Collective Visions Gallery in Bremerton, WA.  Join us for the opening reception 7 June 2019.

Works

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Over the past fifteen years my work has evolved. I have focused on through various themes but the figure always returns

Firing excitement

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My work is fired in either an anagama kiln or a soda kiln. These firings bring together a group of congenial and professional ceramic artists.  These events in Seabeck are highlights of the year.


The show!

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The show is on!  Hope to see you!

Collective Visions Gallery

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My work is for sale at Collective Visions Gallery in Bremerton, WA

Works: a selection

Figure series

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I find figures endlessly fascinating.  Beyond shapes and sinuosity the surface resulting from wood and soda firing references a living surface

Bottles

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Slab building lends itself to bottles.  Bottles are a traditional form for holding water, wine, grain and flowers.  Bottles are some of the earliest finds related to human culture

Wraps

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This series were created using strips of clay, giving the whole a complex additive texture

Cups, mugs and vases

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There is always a use for one of these.  No two are alike; each has it's own personality.

Fun

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Sometimes one just has to have fun!

Abstract and others

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Sometimes shapes just emerge

Artist Statement

I make ceramic forms of abstract, figurative nature. These vessels may be derived from the torso or from basic bottles. My work comes directly from the modernist art traditions of the 1920’s and 30’s; my forms are derived from the human figure as the Greek Cycladic artists or Picasso or Klee might have seen it. I add my own tension and abstraction, for example buttons, holes, elongations. In my forms I sometimes use humor or sensuality because they are ways into our consciousness and sources of joy. I want my work to bring about a personal response and have long-term meaning for you and thus enhance your home environment. A form's surface is integral and vital to how we engage with it. To achieve my surfaces I fire with wood (working in a local community of accomplished ceramic artists) in a soda kiln or in a Japanese-style anagama kiln, both in Seabeck, WA. These firing strategies utilize the atmosphere of the kiln, the flow of soda ions, and wood ash, at temperatures where the clay is reacts with them. These reactions create forceful palettes and fluid patterns with which the artist works on the edge of control. Soda ash, in particular, yields a surface tantalizingly close to human skin in look as well as feel but with dramatic color departures echoing the flow of flame and ash. The firing chemistries result in crystal growth in the glaze, which is in part created from materials in the ash. I hope you find my forms engaging.

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