Anastasia Gabriel

            Grayson Perry is not a potter but an artist. He works in other mediums besides clay, which makes sense to not limit the scope of his talent.  Perry uses traditional ceramic techniques, and materials for making vessels used for craft display.  What is unique is how Grayson subverts the classic, clichéd vase as a craft form and turns it into a ‘canvas’ for expressing his ideas. He intentionally blurs the line between craft and art by using the vase as a vehicle to create tension between the two. By expressing social context, a highly charged act for Perry, he takes the vase into the contemporary art realm.

            When I consider pottery, images of functional work for a ritualistic purpose made by potters comes to mind. And if it breaks I can readily replace it. The distinction is that craft is associated with items that are mass-produced or fulfill a necessity. Fine art whether it is evocative in a positive or negative way is not borne from necessity. Paintings and photography generally hang on walls, and sculptures occupy 3d space.

            Grayson admires the quality of the craftsmanship of art from the ages. He suggests that contemporary artist look at the quality of their art. One way to do that is by looking at lots of art, and to develop a visual vocabulary to use as a reference point for assessing our own work. He adds that there are people who are ‘connoisseurs’ of art, but that it’s also important for artists themselves to look at art through the ages in order to develop ideas about what makes good art. Grayson is constantly assessing the quality of his own work, which is something I will take away from this interview. I felt I was on the right track by looking at art and now the next step is to look at lots more and to view it critically for content, rather than only relying only on aesthetics and craftsmanship and applying that to my own work.