Marty Fielding

I seek harmony in my surroundings, moments of respite from the rush and concerns of daily life. I find a sense of calm in the emotion expressed in a song, soft colors in nature and art, and drinking coffee from a handmade cup. The synthesis of my research in post-modern architecture, abstract painting, and indie music culminates in my utilitarian pottery.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe stated, “Music is liquid architecture; Architecture is frozen music”. I explore how color harmony can reference tonal harmony to produce mood, rhythm, and atmospheric effects akin to music.

I draw from divergent sources that share the element of abstraction, an austerity and restraint in form, and an intentional trajectory for moving the body, eye, or psyche through space. Grounded architecturally inspired forms communicate stability, and cantilevered components act as a counterpoint to the mass. Visual chords of color establish a comforting harmonized background. Architectural features punctuated with vivid color conduct the viewer’s eye around the piece and settle into a mellow mid-tempo beat.

I construct the vessels using a hybrid technique based primarily in hand building and occasionally employing wheel thrown components. The functional parameters of the pot allow me to achieve two important goals in my work: offering individuals an interactive experience through use, and questioning the aesthetic conventions of the archetypal pot within the framework of function. A surprising rendition of a familiar pot strikes the onlooker with a feeling of discovery, enticing a closer investigation through sight, touch, and interaction.

Geometric forms combined with color become utilitarian 3-D color field paintings. Individual vessels and function-specific sets reference skyline and double as musical phrasing or waveforms of sound. Both architects and potters are fundamentally engaged in designing functional space. Architecture holds people; people hold pottery. Like the sentiment in a song, I instill calmness in my vessels to be experienced through use and contemplation within people’s hands and homes.