Baker Artist Portfolios

Collection of plates and large platters

Collection of wheel-thrown and hand built mugs

Series of vases

My approach to ceramic art is greatly influenced by the sensibilities I have gained from studying and working in the field of architecture. Every project is affected by a design consciousness that is rooted in respect for site and process.

I made the pieces in this project right after moving to Baltimore, a change in scenery that affected my work as I sought to capture some elements of the industrial port city. I was particularly interested in the Domino Sugar factory, possibly because it survives along the waterfront, the last hold-out of Baltimore’s manufacturing era. One can sit on the pier in Fells Point and look across the harbor to see cranes unloading tons of sweet cargo off of giant tanker ships. The iconic sign, factory, and ships entered many of my sketches and later influenced forms and surfaces.

Prior to Large Coil Vessels, I worked mostly on the potter’s wheel, creating functional pottery. When I began to coil-build, I was forced to slow down and this gave me time to focus on the sculptural qualities of the pieces. As I built the vessels up inch-by-inch, I began to consider them as containers of space. These pieces mark the beginning of my work in sculptural ceramics.

I used grouping to create a sense of place in the Bottlescapes project. The bottles are wheel-thrown and altered variations of the same form. Slight changes in shape and color work together to depict an abstract landscape.
On the domed forms, I etched fine lines into the surface to illustrate timelessness, like the many layers of strata within a hill. The cylindrical bottles have thicker, raised lines that look more like divided landscapes from above, such as pastures and farmlands viewed from an airplane.

Process:

My goal for this piece is to create a sense of place through form alone. The pair of vessels, a dissected elipse, work together in a spatial relationship where vantage point becomes a part of the experience. Like a Serra Sculpture, moving around the piece changes the viewer’s perception.

Mosaic bas relief.  Concrete, stained glass, acrylic paint.