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Andre Gide says, “Pay attention only to the form; emotion will come spontaneously to inhabit it. A perfect dwelling always finds an inhabitant.”
Emotion fills me when I see perfect forms in nature, from the cracked conch shell on the beach revealing its perfect spiral, to the milkweed pod burst in the field, its brilliant airborne seeds streaming into the sunlight. The ordered symmetry and asymmetry of nature’s forms reveal the growth of life, the movement of life.
Living on Martha’s Vineyard, island time, especially in the winter, seems to conform to nature’s cycles. As a potter, I strive to make my work reflect the balance of life around me. It is important that the patterns I see around me are integrated into my forms.
I use a translucent porcelain body because it has a beautiful surface, and it conveys the qualities of light and shadow that I wish to express. After throwing my vessel on the potter’s wheel, I alter the form to set up a movement of soft shadow. When the porcelain is leather hard, I carve patterns to add energy and counterpoint. I fire my work to cone 10, where the porcelain becomes non-porous and translucent.
Some of the finished pieces hold elusive glimpses of the balance between the convex and the concave, and light absorbed and reflected. In further exploration, I marry the fine porcelain with the ancient art of gilding. The 24 carat gold leaf illumines the interior of the vessel, to reveal new curves and patterns.
Education
1978, B.F.A. with honors, Michigan State University, Studied under Louis Raynor
1980, Graduate study, Florida Atlantic University, Studied under John McCoy
Selected Exhibitions
2018-2017, Winter Antiques Show, New York, NY
2018, 2016-2006, Palm Beach Fine Craft Show, West Palm Beach, FL
2018-2017, Tefaf Maastricht, The Netherlands
2018-2016, Masterpiece London, London, England
2018, 2016-2013, 2008-2007, Smithsonian Craft Show, Washington DC
2018-2011, 2007-2006, Cherry Creek Art Festival, Denver CO
2018-2015, 2013-2010, 2008-2006, Philadelphia Museum Craft Show
2017, 2013-2012, Art on the Square, Belleville,IL
2017-2007, 2005, American Craft Exposition, Evanston, Ill
2017-2004, American Craft Council Show, Baltimore, MD
2016, 2013, 2011-2010, American Craft Council Show, Atlanta, GA
2016, 2013-2011, American Craft Council Show, St. Paul, MN
2016-2015, Charlotte Contemporary, Charlotte, NC
2015, Art Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, FL
2014-2012, Bellevue Arts Museum Arts Fair, Bellevue, WA
2017, 2014-2012, American Craft Council Show, San Francisco, CA 2
014-2013, American Fine Craft Show at Brooklyn Museum, NY
2014, SOFA Art & Design Fair (Chosen by four SOFA Selects judges)
2016-2008, 2001, Craft Forms, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA
2013-2006, Washington Craft Show, Washington DC
2012-2011, 2009-2006, Westchester Craft Show, White Plains, NY
2011, Not So Still Life exhibition, Racine Art Museum, WI
2011, Santa Fe Clay “Inhabited Porcelain”, Santa Fe, NM
2011-2007, Old Town Art Festival, Chicago, IL
2011, 2007-2006, Lakefront Festival of Arts, Milwaukee, IL
2010-2008, Long’s Park Art Festival, Lancaster, PA
2010-2009, St. Louis Arts Festival, St. Louis, MO
2009, Fragiles: Porcelain, Glass & Ceramics, Kuwait
2008, The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum,
Rococo: the Continuing Curve, NYC
2008-2007, 2005, Crafts Boston, Boston, MA
2007, Fuller Craft Museum, Member Exhibition, Brockton, MA
2004-2001, Winter Park Arts Festival, Winter Park, FL
2004-1993, Coconut Grove Art Festival, Miami, FL
Publications
“Vessels: A Conversation in Porcelain & Poetry” book by Jennifer McCurdy and Wendy Mulhern, Schiffer Publishing, 2017 Vineyard Style, US, Spring 2011
“Jennifer McCurdy-The Porcelain Sorceress” Sunshine Artist, US, January 2011 “Spirals & Spheres” Clay Times, US, July/August 2008,
“Defying Gravity: Jennifer McCurdy’s Carved & Pierced Porcelain” Ceramic Review, UK, Sept/Oct 2010, “An Island Aesthetic” El Beit, Egypt, Summer 2010, “Jennifer Fe Daerat Elfan”China Ceramics Illustrated, China, July 2010,
“Jennifer McCurdy: The Cutting Edge of Porcelain” “500 Vases”, Lark Books, 2011
“Ceramics Today” book published by Schiffer LTD, 2010 “The Best of 500 Ceramics”, Lark Books, 2012
Museum Collections
The Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery, Washington DC The Philadelphia Museum of Art
American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY
The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD Newark Museum of Art, Newark, NJ Museum of Art & Archeology, Columbia, MO Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, MN
Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL
Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC
Minneapolis Museum of Art, Minneapolis, MN Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS
Weisman Museum of Art, Minneapolis, MN
Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, MI
Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN
Lowe Art Museum, Miami, FL
Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA
Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, PA
JENNIFER MCCURDY
