08-10-2019

08-10-2019

Betty Woodman

‘Betty Woodman’s eclecticism is astonishing; her influences are wide-ranging and include Persian vases, wallpaper, Japanese prints, and Baroque architecture. While fully embracing abstraction, her sculptures verge on realism; her early interest in functional ceramic objects is always visible. Woodman's work plays in the territory between the high arts and craft and at the borders between painting and sculpture’

‘She has broken through the limits of traditional ceramics through inovative uses of materials such as lacquer paint on earthenware and terra sigillata on paper.’

‘The area between the stone balusters of Baroque staircases particularly fascinates her; her employment of negative space is a major facet of her work.’

‘1970s, Woodman became involved with the Pattern and Decoration movement and began to emphasize surface design. She incorporated imagery from outside of what was considered fine art, focusing on the geometric and floral patterns used on fabrics, wallpaper, and quilts.'

Title
Rose et Noir Pillow Pitcher
Original Date
1989
Maker / Creator
Woodman, Betty, 1930-
Contributors
White, John
Object Description
Glazed earthenware
Related Medium
clay
Object Dimensions
21 x 26 x 22 in.https://digital.craftcouncil.org/digital/collection/p15785coll13/id/4369/

Late 1990s ‘She began using the vase form, the ultimate still -life object, in a number of different ways; flattening and deconstructing it, breaking it into its constituent pieces (tops, feet, spout, handles) and painting/glazing in the details. She also does the opposite, emphasizing the three-dimensional, by presenting a faceted arrangement of vase-like objects with features so disparate that the back and front are stylistically unrelated.’

 ‘combining painted patterns on canvas with painted or glazed ceramic elements to create still-life tableaus that combine illusionism and tactility’

‘Attached to the canvas are four calligraphic black and white ceramic fragments that create a vase form in the negative space between them’

Betty Woodman 'The Red Window' 2014 glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, laquer, acrylic paint, canvas 85x82x13 inches

https://cfileonline.org/exhibitions-betty-woodman-color-light-form-unrelenting-ambition-david-kordansky/?mc_cid=e3a9acc6f4&mc_eid=2569108cf8

‘Woodman's eclecticism is carefully considered; it is pure pluralism, not a random gathering of styles and systems. Her organization of diverse sources into a single vision requires extreme selectivity. The fact that she doesn't stick to a single standard, that she is the beneficiary of centuries of global art history, is what fuels the variety and vitality of her work.’

Betty Woodman: the ultimate still-life object

Authors:Whitney, Kathleen

Source:Ceramics Monthly. March 2016, Vol. 64 Issue 3, p48, 4 p.

Publisher Information:American Ceramic Society

Publication Year:2016

‘She draws no boundaries between art and craft and considers her work to be fine art. Her exuberant and colourful objects frequently contain, or are built around, a vessel, creating a dialogue between subject and form. They are beautiful works, which are decorative, but also represent a hybrid between painting and sculpture. The objects are made of glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer and paint’

‘Her work divorces surface from shape and then puts it all back together.’

http://adobeairstream.com/art/betty-woodman-revisited/