"My recent work in ceramic sculpture centers around the abstraction of personal objects that have been given to me by my family members; an old pipe of my father's, a funnel from my mother's kitchen, an old bulb from the family Christmas tree and my childrens toys. A recent object is a handmade wooden tool that was fashioned by my Italian grandfather to plant in his garden. Slender and pointed with a stump of a side handle, this small tool fit the hand of my grandfather and served him well. For me it holds visual intrigue and a connection to my memory of him. The warn, crusty surfaces on many of the pieces are created to give a sense of how time acts to make and unmake a form. I so not wish for this work to be named or lableled, rather it is my intention that through the borrowing and reformation of objects the work might trigger one to look closer and find beauty and intrigue in the humble, ordinary and familiar objects that surround us."
These are the words Virginia Scotchie uses to describe her practice.
This is taken from an article Dr. Lynn Jones Ennis wrote to accompany an exhibition at the North Carolina State College in 2005.
"To be around Scotchie is to witness energy in motion. She processes information on so many levels. Her joyful home is full of color and wonderful objects. Her husband, Peter Lenzo, also is a potter and works in assemblages that are scattered throughout the house. Between them they have three children, three dogs, two cats, and several reptiles.
Scotchie pays attention, and it is this attention that allows her to transform everyday items such as funnels into works of art that invite closer inspection. Sometimes she pokes holes in objects once functional, only to render them unusable in their traditional sense.
Often when she starts a piece, Scotchie isn't sure where it will go. Although she does sketch - she has sketchbooks in every room of her house - she rarely makes something that looks exactly like what she has drawn. And she likes solitude when she is working with the clay form.
Her newly built studio in her back yard is reached by walking through a lovely garden adorned with ceramic spheres, inviting visitors to stop and look. Her former workspace was shared with Lenzo; now they each have a studio. Her sparse space is filled with light and an orderly calmness. Scotchie is a planner. For example, she cuts wooden forms into various shapes, which serve as patterns for her work.
from "Women in Clay" organized by the North Carolina State University Gallery of Art and Design, Dr. Lynn Jones Ennis, Curator of the Collection.2005
Virginia Scotchie is speaking at the Australian Ceramic Triennale on Sunday the 19th of July at 9.00
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