Oxidation-fired Stoneware, steel pipe, rubber and pool noodle, 2012
(detail)
Oxidation-fired Stoneware, wood, steel pipe, aluminum vents, rubber, air filter, 60x16x67, 2012
(detail)
2012
Wood-fired Stoneware and steel, 21 x 10 x 46 inches, 2012
Reduction-fired Stoneware sandblasted, Rubber, Gaskets, Steel Pipe, 52 x 17 x 18 inches, 2009
Salt-fired Stoneware, PVC, Gaskets, Rubber, Steel Fasteners, Air Filters, 34 x 18 x 18 inches, 2007
Wood-fired Stoneware, steel, brass valve, 2012
Oxidation-Fired Stoneware, Rubber, Gaskets, Steel Pipe, Brass Valve, MDF, 42 x 42 x 8", 2008
Artist Statement
Water and air are essential. Clean water and air, as well as the systems that deliver them, are undeniable necessities and conveniences within our lives. Conceptually, my work focuses on water and air distribution systems, both real and imaginary, and the ingenuity and materials needed to design and maintain them. Regarding process, I am firmly rooted within traditional craft as it pertains to both art and skilled trades and the manufacturing industry. By combining seemingly contradictory and disparate materials such as handmade fired ceramics, air filters, found industrial objects, and steel pipes, I present whimsical systems intended to ease the viewer into underlying ideas about progress, change, time, and decay. I bridge the gap between development and deterioration by exploring human ingenuity, resourcefulness, and the (sometimes) absurdity of our built environment.
Utilizing the visual language that is created through this process, I encourage viewers to embrace the glory of mechanization and contemplate the expressive human qualities of efficiency, agency, and ingenuity that are captured in the mechanical systems that populate our daily lives.
-- Matt Moyer
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