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Artistic Ambivalence in Clay: Portraits of Pottery, Ceramics, and Gender
Author: Courtney Lee Weida
Date Of Publication: May 2011
Isbn13: 978-1-4438-2872-7
Isbn: 1-4438-2872-6
This book is a collection of glimpses into the lives and works of fifteen prominent women artists in contemporary ceramics. Spanning multiple genres, generations, and geographies, these potters and ceramic sculptors describe nuances, contradictions, and tensions surrounding their artworks, artistic processes, and professional lives. Within this text, artistic ambivalences are questioned and analyzed in terms of myriad gender issues. Featured ceramicists include: Maureen Burns-Bowie, Esta Carnahan, Ellen Day, Cara Gay Driscoll, Dolores Dunning, Heidi Fahrenbacher, DeBorah Goletz, Lynn Goodman, Joan Hardin, Beth Heit, Tsehai Johnson, Kate Malone, Norma Messing, Elspeth Owen, and Mary Trainor.

The qualitative research summarized within this book draws influence from feminist methodologies and the visual arts methodology of portraiture. Artists, art historians, and art educators interested in ceramics and gender will find detailed discussion of unexpected persistence of gendered associations within ceramic technology, social binaries of gender identity in symbols and traditions of clay, and subtle sexism surrounding ceramics in education. At the same time, this text celebrates women’s work in ceramics as an often neglected set of perspectives, highlighting the intricate complexities of artistic ambivalences and lived experiences of art within a dynamic dialogue.

Courtney Lee Weida is a ceramic artist and Assistant Professor of Art Education. Her education includes degrees from Northeastern University, Harvard University, and Columbia University Teachers College. She has taught within public schools, museums, and arts organizations. Her publications include contributions to the Teaching Artist Journal, the Guild of Book Workers’ Journal, the Journal of Nature in Visual Culture, and multiple publications of the National Art Education Association. For more details of her work, please visit www.courtneyweida.com.

Price Uk Gbp: 34.99
Price Us Usd: 52.99

Sample pdf (including Table of Contents)

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