Rebecca Hutchinson

If I said to think of a ceramic piece of work, what kind of piece would come to your mind? A mug? A vase? Maybe a specific sculpture you saw in a museum?

When someone asks me to think about ceramic art, the pieces I imagine tend to have certain things in common. Traditional looking pottery, sculptures that are very solid, and semi grounded. Whenever I’ve worked with clay there’s always been constructional limitations. These limitations I’ve always faced, shaped my ideas on what ceramic art tended to look like. 

That’s why I was drawn to Rebecca’s art right away. The moment I saw it, it didn’t fit what I associated with the material. To be honest, I didn’t think it was really made out of clay at first. These series of large open forms that hung from the walls and the ceilings, thin petals layered on top of each other to form flowers and other organic forms. I was invested immediately. Was this really made from clay? And if so, how? 

Rebecca uses paper clay to construct her pieces. Paper clay is a type of Fibrous clay. Which is simply a clay where processed Cellulose fiber (like paper) is added to the clay. This makes the clay stronger in its greenware stage, and weaker in its bisque stage. Many artists make paper clay slurry to bind cracks or glue broken parts in bisque fired pieces.

Paper Clay is also Commonly used for building taller and thinner structures, which may be why Rebecca chooses to use paper clay, and paper slurry for her art. It allows her to achieve a more delicate organic look, that normal clay may not be able to achieve.

It’s not just the addition of fiber that makes her clay interesting, Rebecca is also very particular about where her materials comes from, in an artist statement about her works she states;

“I build site-responsive clay and fibrous sculptural works made from indigenous materials, such as recycled 100% natural fiber clothing—Like an animal that uses the vernacular from place, I, too, upcycle humble materials and remake them into what I hope to be exquisite sculptural forms.“

Nature is a key element in her pieces beyond the materials she uses. She also uses it as a source of inspiration and reference. She addresses this heavily when speaking about her work.

“In nature there are diverse states of existence that I continue to study; the structure of nature, the result of the state of nature by interaction with other forces of nature, the resilience of nature, and the complexity and awe in the engineering of nature. ”

It’s not just Art and Nature that she is passionate about, she also values education and is a lecturer at Umass Dartmouth. Besides teaching, Rebecca has a vast array of achievements. Since receiving her MFA from the University of Georgia she has achievements spanning from being a Mass representative for the National Museum of Women in the Arts. To awards like the New England Artist Award, as well as many publications and fellowships.

To find out more about Rebecca Hutchinson, or to read her full artist statement, check her out on Artaxis. All quotes, pictures, and some bio information was taken from there. Additional Bio info was found on the Umass Dartmouth website.