Pacific Northwest College of Art    Portland, OR

Considering The Bowl

In honor of Object Focus: The Bowl at Museum of Contemporary Craft, UNTITLED Magazine has invited PNCA writers, makers, illustrators, ceramists, stylists, planners, etc, to think seriously about the role and object of the bowl and how it is encountered in life, work, or art practice. Each of these writers was able to offer a thoughtful and unique perspective on the bowl, and specifically on the/a bowl in his or her life. We will be posting essays, short-fiction, poetry, and memoirs about bowls regularly between March and September 2013. These texts are also published digitally on the Museum’s online blog during the exhibition and will be included in a physical companion volume when the exhibition closes.

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The Quietness

By Josh Unterman, MFA AC+D ’13

Josh Unterman, MFA AC+D ’13 considers the bowl as a symbolic vessel.

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Illustrated Bowls

By Michelle Fraczek ’14

Michelle Fraczek ’14 sketches a few of the bowls on display in Object Focus: The Bowl.

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Rooted

By Rachel Cox, MFA AC+D ’11

Rachel Cox, MFA AC+D ’11 explores how bowls as objects can ground us in ritual.

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Visual Inspiration

By Molly Mendoza ’14

Inspired by the variety on display, Molly Mendoza ’14 sketched the bowls in Object Focus: The Bowl.

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Sketchbook Samples

By Taylor Smith ’14

A selection of bowls from Taylor Smith’s sketchbook of Object Focus: The Bowl.

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The Bowl

By Meghan Chalmers-McDonald, MFA AC+D ’14

Meghan Chalmers-McDonald, MFA AC+D ’14 on the bowl as the hand’s answer to the mind and body’s needs.

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1000 Bowls

By Theresa Arrison, MFA AC+D ’13

Theresa Arrison, MFA AC+D ’13 reflects on both the “why” and the “what” behind making.

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Charity

By Dustin M. Freemont, MA CT+CR ’13

Dustin M. Freemont, MA CT+CR ’13 traces through verse a bowl’s many incarnations.

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Illustrated Bowls

By Ben Vanderwerff ’15

PNCA painter Ben Vanderwerff ’15 captures the curve and substance of a bowl.

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Reflections on the Meaning of Making Bowls

By Jason Lee Starin, MFA AC+D ’11

Jason Lee Starin, MFA AC+D ’11 examines how making bowls connects us to the material present and to human history.

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Attacks of Nostalgia

By Alison Gradischer, MFA AC+D ’11

Alison Gradischer, MFA AC+D ’11 on the banality and grandeur of bowls.

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