C.Cordelia Raymond is currently completing the last year of her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at The University of Montana. She has been showing her work regionally around Missoula, MT since 2008; and serves as the president of the Universities ceramics club UMECA (University of Montana Emerging Ceramic Artists). Her work was accepted into the both the First and Second Biannual University of Montana and Montana State University Faculty and Student Exhibitions at the Archie Bray Clay Center. She has received two awards at UMT ceramics exhibitions, and in 2010 she received an educational scholarship from The President’s Excellence Fund to attend an Archie Bray workshop. This past January she completed a short-term residency at the Medalta International Artist in Residence Center in Medicine Hat, Canada. Her work can be found in the sales gallery of The Clay Studio of Missoula.
The hand-made vessel is an intimate and powerful object. When I create pottery I am endlessly drawn to embellishing the surface with rich decoration. As intrigue and the relationship between the user and the vessel are increased by intense decoration and function, so too are the viewer’s relationships with food and the act of consumption elevated.
The hors d’ oeuvres towers have been wonderful objects to create. I reference architecture, ritual and tradition in these forms which have been assembled of thrown, carved and altered cylinders. Tiny chambers with windows take shape in these towers, each meant to hold only one variety of food, and in turn they become individual throne rooms or shrines to their inhabitants. The precision in making the towers accompanied by the specificity the user must access to use them causes a sense of play or role-play that I love.
By displaying food in such regal ways, I intend for it to be given the attention and appreciation that sustenance deserves. The circular visual pull of these pots causes viewers to search and to slow their pace; making users view the food inside the vessels not only as precious, but as another element working to complete the visual and functional elements of the artworks.
For 'Facetime', this year's Artini Auction theme, I created a Vanity made within this same mindset. Getting ready for the day can be something that we rush through so we can run out the door. We look at our faces in the mirror to make sure everything its in its proper style, but we don't really take this time to just 'be' with and really see ourselves. Looking into the mirror of my Vanity will be like looking at one's own portrait. Hopefully the beauty of the Vanity will transcend to the viewer so that they see and feel their own beauty framed in the mirror. The intention of this piece to really make the user feel special and to encourage them to take the time to appreciate them self.
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