Andrea Marquis
Amplifier
Stoneware and Glaze
2" x 15" circumference

About the work
Amplifier is designed to serve a reflective mandala-like sculpture. The circular pattern comes from repetitive layering of a drawing of fig tree leaves. It has been reworked many times and the former flora has begun to resemble fauna (sheep or goat) and has been designed to stimulate the projective quality of a Rorschach Test. There is an inherent duality in the fig and sheep references that play on ideas of good and evil.

Bio
Andrea Marquis lives and works in the Philadelphia Metro region of Pennsylvania. She has been an Artist in Residence at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, at the Archie Bray Foundation in Montana and presently at the Fitler Club in Philadelphia as part of the Artist in Residence 2.0 cohort. She has studied at Syracuse University, The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and earned an MFA in 2009 from The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.

Marguerita Hagan
Rongorongo
2017
pit-fired ceramic
7.25" x 12" x 10.75"

About the Work

Rongorongo is Rapanui (Easter Island) meaning: Incised for Chanting Out

The ancient Easter Island glyphs carved on tablets share a mystical language. With only about a dozen incised wood planks known today, Rongorongo is one of a few independent languages in human history and is yet to be deciphered.

The unique system of characters are incised in shallow horizontal channels. The text is read from the bottom row, left to right. Each line is reversed so one must turn the tablet 180º to chant to the next line. Although the literal translation is unknown, the spirited nature of the "chants" infuse the sculptures. Inheriting the ancestral Rongorongo mobility, the sculptures invert freely into various poses as they step from 2 to 3 dimension.

The mysterious carved organic tablets liken time capsules capturing a once diverse and abundant exchange between man and nature on this remote Pacific Island. The thriving Rapanui culture and its lush landscape fell to deforestation and devastation leaving a profound message and crucial restoration at work today.

The pit-fired ceramic sculpture are unpredictably and uniquely painted 100% by the fumes and flame of their primitive outdoor firing.

Bio

Marguerita Hagan is a ceramic sculptor based in Philadelphia. She is an advocate for the thriving of all life in mutually sustainable communities and environments. The concept of interdependence plays throughout her sculpture, teaching and community arts.

Throughout her career, Hagan brings to light the beauty and engineering of our planet's diverse ecosystems and our powerful role as stewards. Her intricate ceramic shines light on the wonder and respect for the fragile, diverse life with which our lives are intrinsically linked.

She received her MFA from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and her BFA in Ceramics at James Madison University. Her projects include collaborations with artists, scientists and community, environmental art-science residencies, lectures and is in private and public collections and exhibits nationally and internationally.