Ceramics in the Environment
In Ceramics in the Environment, world renown ceramic artist Janet Mansfield shows how ornamental, architectural and large-scale ceramic works have always appeared on buildings and in the landscape since the beginning of ceramics in civilization. This book provides a look at the vast array of ceramics being produced today around the world in this context.
The book divides work up into themes such as Symbolism, Pattern and Geometry, Architecture, Nature and the Human Figure, and is focused on the aesthetics and relevance of work in relation to its location. Beautifully designed and illustrated, the works of 97 ceramicists are featured in more than 220 photographs, showing the finished work in situ, as well as discussing the issues surrounding the construction of these ambitious and monumental projects.
The works of the featured ceramists from around the world reinforce the universal importance of clay as an abundant utilitarian as well as magical material that is able to be processed into works of expressive power.
The text concentrates on the contemporary application of the use of ceramics in environmental settings, acknowledging the fact that, historically, ceramic materials have been used over the centuries: to clad porous building materials; to make them fire- and waterproof; to decorate walls; to tell a story or provide ornamentation; to form complete sculptures to enrich an area or honor a personage.