Heinrich Vogtherr the Elder’s Hands (2022)

clay, underglaze, glaze, terra sigillata on raw clay ∆04 oxidation

I often use functional pottery as an opportunity to experiment with technical or conceptual ideas before moving them to larger pieces. Disembodied hands are a motif that I have been expanding upon in my work for they stand for a detached expressiveness or as the catalyst of an event unfolding (ex. using ones hands to hold and light a cigarette: see Suck/Smoke). These hands in particular are sourced from a series of prints made by Heinrich Vogtherr the Elder from the 16th Century of the hands of craftsmen.