Invited artist:Jeremiah Ibarra

This plate, like many of the pots I made in 2023, was coil built, stretched and trimmed on a potter’s wheel. The drawing is an amalgamation of two different surface techniques. Majolica and overglaze. Majolica can usually be defined by its stiff tin-based glaze and brushed ornamentation - - commonly a simple flux and colorant concoction. A standard Majolica process happens after the bisque stage. My overglaze process, on the other hand, requires a third firing. Like china painting, this drawing is done using an oil-based glaze and then refired. The line work is achieved by thinning down this glaze to an ink-like consistency and delivered through a dip pen nib. The drawing is fired back to the same temp as the initial Majolica glaze. Unlike many china painted surfaces the drawing is embedded into the glaze below it.

When I taught in New Orleans I had my 3D students from the University of New Orleans meet me at the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden once a semester. A bronze of Lipchitz’s Sacrifice III can be found near the main entrance of the garden. I feel connected to this piece in a way that doesn’t happen often. It didn’t happen right away. In fact, it took several visits for me to grow with appreciation. I began drawing it a few times a semester during those meetings, not only as a form of documentation but as a way to spend more time with this odd piece. Part of what I find so appealing about this work is the dynamic struck by the gruesomeness of this killing act depicted in this almost cartoonish manner. The tension is subdued in a way that feels so much more palatable.

Why put this drawing on a pot? At the time I had recently moved away from New Orleans, and I started developing this ceramic drawing process in the studio. I deliberately wanted these pots to do all of the things my utilitarian work did. I also wanted these plates to function the way my 2-dimensional work might operate i.e. as documentation or maybe as a marker in time. These plates work much like commemorative china might, and I really like that. Not seeing this Lipchitz sculpture on a regular basis affected me. Not necessarily in a way that is always noticeable. The act of drawing Sacrifice III can live now in this new way. For me it commemorates that act, and the practice of sitting with artwork in person.