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Featured Piece - October 2006

KOHTPACT  Series #1 (2006)
 Sandblasted and dyed Elm, glass beaded and bleached oak
6 inches high by 8 inches wide, 4 ½ inches high by 7 inches long

The title is a Russian word that roughly translates to "contrast."  This is the first set in a series of bowl sets exemplifying similarities and contrast.

Some of the ways the bowls differ:

Technique:  The black bowl is rough turned, dried and re turned resulting in no warping and  a more formal shape vs. the white bowl which was turned wet and subsequently warped (very deliberate grain orientation and thus shape) for a different and more organic energy.

Height:  The black bowl is tall and white one short in proportion, changing the overall effect .

Orientation:  The black bowl has the heart of the tree (pith) at bottom , the white one the pith at top of the bowl. This determines the patterns created by the growth lines.  For example, reverse the black bowl's orientation  and the grain lines would not present horizontally sweeping continuous patterns, and the bowl would not be as successful in my view.  With the white bowl that grain orientation is successful because of the distortion from drying as well as the variations in the color that follow the same pattern as the growth lines.

Color:  The black bowl is a monotone of black while the white one has a range of colors, a more textured surface to the hand and much more detail of wood showing through.  For both bowls this is intentional.  For example if the black bowl was not an even matte black surface, the subtle grain lines and pattern would be overpowered.

Mood:  The overall statement of black one is a very quiet, formal strength and elegance, while the white one is  a more overtly dramatic and alluring. Together they work well for me as a pair. Classic interpretation might have the black bowl  the king warrior, and the white one the queen or princess, complementing each other and working of each other's strengths to form a union that is greater than the two on their own.

Yet strong similarities tie these bowls together. Both are closed round bottomed bowls with a similar balance in the hand and sympathetic proportions.  As with people, these bowls are in sum more alike than different.

 

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