Richard Notkin: The Consent of Silence
Richard Notkin is an artist who, for nearly five decades, has focused his work on narrative ceramic sculptures and teapots imbued with political and social commentary. He has extensively researched historical ceramics to find inspiration, aesthetic styles and techniques which are pertinent to his detailed, image-based works. The new 鈥淗ill Jar Series鈥� is based on a marvelous body of work produced during the Han Dynasties (circa 200 BCE 鈥� 200 AD) in China. These moderately scaled earthenware cylindrical jars have three small feet at their bases, often animals such as bears, low relief imagery of idyllic hunting scenes on their sides, and lush landscapes of mythically stylized mountains on the lids, representing the Five Sacred Mountains of the Returning Void, where the immortals were believed to reside. The surfaces were layered in somewhat imperfect lustrous glazes ranging from variegated and mottled jade-like green and grayish tones, adding a warm beauty to the imagery.
Notkin states 鈥淭he glazed reliefs on the cylinder walls and sculptural imagery of the lids of the Hill Jars provide the perfect format for my continuing explorations into the human condition, and my ongoing protests aimed squarely at the utter insanity of war. While I utilize the beauty of the execution in the objects I create to lure the viewer in, the imagery which the viewer encounters is purposely challenging 鈥� and occasionally disturbing. Much like my 鈥淵ixing Teapot Series鈥� (inspired by the unglazed stoneware teapots of Yixing, China, circa 1500 AD to the present), my intent is to not merely copy these classical works, but to transform the imagery within their aesthetic parameters to reflect our contemporary culture and, in particular, my concerns regarding the many dire threats the human species faces at the beginning of the 21st century. I am in awe of the power of art to have a profound impact on humankind鈥檚 perceptions, as evidenced by Picasso鈥檚 masterpiece, 鈥淕uernica鈥�, and Goya鈥檚 鈥淒isasters of War鈥� suite of etchings, art works for which I have the highest respect. Similarly, I feel it is of utmost importance that my work has an impact on viewers today, and, hopefully, into our unknown and precarious future.鈥�
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Richard Notkin is an artist who, for nearly five decades, has focused his work on narrative ceramic sculptures and teapots imbued with political and social commentary. He has extensively researched historical ceramics to find inspiration, aesthetic styles and techniques which are pertinent to his detailed, image-based works. The new 鈥淗ill Jar Series鈥� is based on a marvelous body of work produced during the Han Dynasties (circa 200 BCE 鈥� 200 AD) in China. These moderately scaled earthenware cylindrical jars have three small feet at their bases, often animals such as bears, low relief imagery of idyllic hunting scenes on their sides, and lush landscapes of mythically stylized mountains on the lids, representing the Five Sacred Mountains of the Returning Void, where the immortals were believed to reside. The surfaces were layered in somewhat imperfect lustrous glazes ranging from variegated and mottled jade-like green and grayish tones, adding a warm beauty to the imagery.
Notkin states 鈥淭he glazed reliefs on the cylinder walls and sculptural imagery of the lids of the Hill Jars provide the perfect format for my continuing explorations into the human condition, and my ongoing protests aimed squarely at the utter insanity of war. While I utilize the beauty of the execution in the objects I create to lure the viewer in, the imagery which the viewer encounters is purposely challenging 鈥� and occasionally disturbing. Much like my 鈥淵ixing Teapot Series鈥� (inspired by the unglazed stoneware teapots of Yixing, China, circa 1500 AD to the present), my intent is to not merely copy these classical works, but to transform the imagery within their aesthetic parameters to reflect our contemporary culture and, in particular, my concerns regarding the many dire threats the human species faces at the beginning of the 21st century. I am in awe of the power of art to have a profound impact on humankind鈥檚 perceptions, as evidenced by Picasso鈥檚 masterpiece, 鈥淕uernica鈥�, and Goya鈥檚 鈥淒isasters of War鈥� suite of etchings, art works for which I have the highest respect. Similarly, I feel it is of utmost importance that my work has an impact on viewers today, and, hopefully, into our unknown and precarious future.鈥�
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