Charity Davis-Woodard

Charity Davis-Woodard
Edwardsville, IL

 Charity Davis-Woodard has been a professional potter for 11 years. A profile on Davis-Woodard in Ceramic Arts Daily describes, with rich insight, the process of turning her life into the life of a studio potter. In the article, Davis-Woodard engages the reader with her process of creating, which describes how the pot is designed to engage the viewer through its implicit function. The artist writes:

Inspiration springs from my belief that pottery has the potential to function as expressive art each time it performs with the user, thereby engaging us in a highly personal and primal way. Even at rest the reference to use embodied in the pots’ familiar form reminds us of the place it holds in our domestic landscape, and thereby grounds us however unconsciously in that same setting… It can remind us of our need as social beings to celebrate common experience with objects that stimulate our memories and all our senses.

I believe I can truthfully say that no amount of technology could ever dull our natural sense of curiosity. Our eyes are constantly looking for information to process as clues for how to function in our surroundings. This is part of the primal sensibility suggested by a Davis-Woodard pot. The flashes of terracotta on the pitcher at right suggest hand placement almost like a lighted runway. The surface highlights areas of greater interest and activity and accent the form in a pleasing way. The use is implied, as is the presence of a social group.