I explore the interaction of materials, processes, and forms. Working in series; using repetition with variation, I produce bodies of work in which individual pieces become components of a whole. Within each series I study a form’s needs and possibilities, its potential and its limits.

Ceramics, Sculpture and installations

In my ceramics, I consider how to capture the specific properties of clay and firing environment, leaving a record of the making, while attending to overall design elements and the relationship of form to function. In my functional ceramic vessels I try to honor the bounty of the harvest, the farmer’s patient nurturing of crops, the craft of the chef, the butcher, and the baker.

I consider place and time, contextualizing and commenting on the experience of gender and other current and historical political and social issues. Since the 2016 US Presidential election, I have been working on Election Day 2016 and the Day After, a series of mixed media installations that documents reactions to the election and its resulting impact on our country. These works invite viewer participation – in an effort to use art as a vehicle for public discussion and gathering personal histories.

Photography

Photographic Series like Walking to Work and Walking Home and Walking Mitteer Road, document my relationship to familiar places and often walked routes. Walking to Work and Walking Home focuses on interiors of workspaces (as seen from the sidewalk) along 9th Street, 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue.

Walking Mitteer Road is an in progress series that spans two decades. It includes hundreds of images of a farm in Hurleyville, NY, the town where I spent my childhood and documents how the farm, in particular the Woodland Farm Barn has changed, as a result of weather, use, and time.

Alyce Barr

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