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Jennifer McCurdy • Statement
Philosophy: Why do I do what I do?
Andre Gide said, “Pay attention to the form only. Emotion will come spontaneously. A perfect dwelling always finds an inhabitant.”
Indeed, emotion fills me when I see all the perfect forms in nature, everywhere I look, from the cracked conch shell on the beach revealing its perfect spiral, to the milkweed pod cracked open in the field, its brilliant airborne seeds streaming into the sunlight. The ordered symmetry and asymmetry of nature’s forms reveal the growth of life, the movement of life.
I live on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, and island time, especially in the winter, seems to conform to nature’s cycles. As a potter, I strive to make my work reflect the balance of life around me. It is important to me that the patterns are integrated into my forms, as I see around me.
I use a translucent porcelain body because it has a beautiful surface, and it can convey the qualities of light and shadow that I wish to express. After I throw my vessel on the potter’s wheel, I alter the form to set up a movement of soft shadow. When the porcelain is leather hard, I carve patterns to add energy and counterpoint. I fire my work to cone 10, where the porcelain becomes non-porous and translucent, and one of the hardest surfaces known to man.
I use a white stoneware clay to explore larger forms. I call these forms my warrior vessels because they take a lot of energy, and I hope they express it back. I glaze them with microcrystalline glazes and fire them to cone 10.
Jennifer McCurdy • Biography
EDUCATION
1980
Graduate study, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida
1978
Bachelor of Fine Arts with honors, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2005
American Craft Council Craft Show, Baltimore, Maryland
2004
Paradise City, Marlborough, Massachusetts
Berkshires Arts Festival, Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Arts Festival at Rockefeller Center, New York, New York
Boca Raton Museum Art Festival, Boca Raton, Florida
Winter Park Arts Festival, Winter Park, Florida
Coconut Grove Art Festival, Miami, Florida
American Craft Council Craft Show, Baltimore, Maryland
2003
Boca Raton Museum Art Festival, Boca Raton, Florida
Winter Park Arts Festival, Winter Park, Florida
Coconut Grove Art Festival, Miami, Florida
2002
Winter Park Arts Festival, Winter Park, Florida
Coconut Grove Art Festival, Miami, Florida
Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, Tampa, Florida
2001
Wayne Art Center, Craft Forms 2001, Wayne, Pennsylvania
Winter Park Arts Festival, Winter Park, Florida
Coconut Grove Art Festival, Miami, Florida
Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, Tampa, Florida
2000
Coconut Grove Art Festival, Miami, Florida
1999
Coconut Grove Art Festival, Miami, Florida
1998
Coconut Grove Art Festival, Miami, Florida
1997
Coconut Grove Art Festival, Miami, Florida
1996
Coconut Grove Art Festival, Miami, Florida
1995
Coconut Grove Art Festival, Miami, Florida
Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, Tampa, Florida
Disney's Festival of the Masters, Orlando, Florida
1994
Coconut Grove Art Festival, Miami, Florida
Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, Tampa, Florida
Disney's Festival of the Masters, Orlando, Florida
1993
Coconut Grove Art Festival, Miami, Florida
Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, Tampa, Florida
Disney's Festival of the Masters, Orlando, Florida
1992
Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, Tampa, Florida
Disney's Festival of the Masters, Orlando, Florida
1991
Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, Tampa, Florida
1990
Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, Tampa, Florida
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
1995-2003
Instructor, Featherstone Meetinghouse, Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts
1993-2004
Participating Artist, Coconut Grove Visiting Artists Program, Miami, Florida
1998-2002
Artist in Residence, Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts
1995-1999
Instructor, Chilmark Pottery, Chilmark, Massachusetts
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Crafts Council
Featherstone Meetinghouse of the Arts
