It’s good to know I’m not the only person to think of the exquisite ceramics of Virginia Scotchie when I first saw an artist’s representation of the Coronavirus. There’s something about the pieces that fit so perfectly together into a whole but, at once, beg to be seen as separate entities. In any case, it seemed like a perfect time to catch up with the Columbia-based artist and academician to see how she has been continuing her work during our time of sheltering in.
Educated at Chapel Hill, Israel, and New York City, Scotchie has served as a professor of ceramic arts at the University of SC since 1992. Her work has been shown and studied in numerous papers and exhibitions finding homes internationally with an apparent affinity for embassies, including France, Italy, Wales, Kosovo, Australia, and China to name a few. Scotchie’s work can be seen on the Hidell/Brooks Gallery website hidellbrooks.com and her own website at virginiascotchie.com.
But let’s check into how the world is treating Scotchie now.
Jasper: How long have you been in isolation and what is your isolation situation?
Scotchie: I have been in isolation since the USC Columbia campus closed in March. Thank goodness I have my ceramic studio in my backyard! I have been extremely fortunate that I can continue to make my ceramic work especially since I have two solo exhibitions coming up in the Fall. I am also grateful that I am not alone as I live with my partner, Milton Oates and my godson Josh Scott….oh, and three dogs and four cats….
Jasper: Were you teaching classes this semester? If so, how did you resolve the challenge of teaching during a quarantine?
Scotchie: Yes. I have been teaching graduate students at the School of Visual Art and Design at USC during the pandemic along with two undergraduate advanced ceramic classes. Fortunately, the students had been able to complete a good deal of artwork before the buildings on campus were closed. The ceramic students were able to participate in our Annual Student Art Exhibition at McMaster Gallery in early March with their completed pieces. In fact, one of our MFA students in Ceramics, Patrick Burke, won best of show for his ceramic sculpture. Since the closure we have been meeting on Zoom which is ok at first but is not at all like actual contact with my students. This semester was the first time I experienced a Zoom Oral Exam with graduate students whose thesis committee I am on. They actually did an amazing job!
Jasper: Has the pandemic affected your work habits? How so?
Scotchie: Since my studio is in my backyard I can work there in between Zoom meetings, answering student emails and being available to my students during class time. It has been an amazingly productive time for me with lots of experimentation, new ideas coming to fruition and time to just sit and think in the studio ….oh and of course pulling weeds and planting flowers as I talk the walk from the house to the studio! My yard has never looked so good!
Jasper: What about the art you are creating? Does your current work reflect our current situation as a culture in any way? Or are you escaping from our current situation in the art you are creating?
Scotchie: For many years my work in ceramics has made reference to nature, architecture and the vessel through minimal abstraction. I am not sure that the current situation has impacted my work yet although one of my friends mentioned on Instagram that a piece of mine that I had posted reminded him of the virus. Its actually one of my “go to” objects that I have revisited for years. Much of my work has involved groupings of objects on the wall so who knows maybe the work will become more signaler or groupings of no more than three.
Jasper: Has our situation impacted you as an artist -- have you grown or has your viewpoint changed or anything like that? Have you learned anything about yourself as an artist?
Scotchie: I have really enjoyed the solitude in the studio. Normally I am at the University at least 4 days a week teaching, organizing the ceramic studio, making art with students and actually doing my own work at the University. With all this new “alone time” there is so much room for reflection, imagination and creating new work. However, ceramics is in so many ways a communal studio activity. There are a multitude of activities we do as ceramic artists where you need more that one person…. for example: loading kilns, making clay, mixing glazes. It is an extremely physical studio practice and in many ways community based. My partner has become a big participant in my studio helping me with certain pieces I am making so if something is too heavy or I need a hand with a piece of work he is always there to help. I have learned that I miss the students though and the ceramic studio at USC that I have built up since 1992.
Jasper: What would you be doing now if we weren't sheltering in? Did the quarantine cause you to change any plans to show your work, study, or travel?
Scotchie: Sadly yes. A huge solo exhibition of my work that was to be shown during the 2020 National Ceramic Conference (NCECA) in Richmond Virginia was postponed until the fall. Literally one week before the exhibition was to be installed the conference was cancelled and the gallery where my exhibition was to be held decided to postpone the opening until the fall. In late May through June I was to be Artist in Residence at the National Sculpture Factory (NSF) in Cork, Ireland. Needless to say I was very excited about this opportunity to make work at the NSF! However, this has also been postponed until May of 2021. I am very grateful that the financial support for this residency from the Deans Office in the School of Arts and Science and the School of Visual Art and Design will move forward to 2021 so that I will be able to work at the NSF in Ireland.
Jasper: Can you share any advice or tips for other artists on how to be productive or motivated while sheltering in?
Scotchie: Regardless of any situation artists must keep on being productive and motivated. Even during normal times all artists have slumps or periods of uncertainty with their work. but the only thing to do is to get in the studio. As they say, half the battle if just showing up! The best thing to do is just to start something. Not everything is going to be a masterpiece. We all create many pieces that no one will ever see but these pieces will hopefully lead us to the next and the next, etc. Current pieces artists are working on will inform future work. For me making art is like breathing….
Artist Statement - Virginia Scotchie
Recent work has dealt with the relationships of whole forms to that of their components. The act of taking apart and putting back together has contributed to the accumulation of a personal library of fragmented images. My current interest is in the exploration of new forms derived from rearranging fragments of disparate dissected objects.
With this new body of work I have continued my on-going visual investigation of man-made and natural objects. Usually these consist of small things; ordinary in many ways, but possessing a visual quirkiness that pulls me to them. In some cases I am not familiar with the particular purpose, function or origin of the original object. Often this lack of information allows me to see the object in a clearer light.
In some of the pieces, I have "borrowed" fragments of personal objects that have been passed on to me from a family member. Usually these are things that have only sentimental value: An old pipe of my fathers, a funnel from my mother’s kitchen an old bulb from the family Christmas tree. A recent object that falls into this category is a handmade wooden tool that was fashioned by my Italian grandfather to plant his garden. Slender and pointed with a stump of a side handle this small tool fit the hand of my grandfather and served him well. For me it not only holds visual intrigue but also a connection to my memory of him and the things he loved.
The worn, crusty surfaces on many of the pieces are created to give a sense of how time acts to make and unmake a form. This process can be seen in both natural and manmade objects.
While drawn from specific sources of interpretation, the work in this exhibit is primarily abstract and formal. Form, surface and color take precedent over any perceived emotional content. While the work may trigger a visual memory of familiar objects, the viewer is encouraged to have a range of interpretations.
Cindi Boiter is the editor of Jasper and the founder and ED of the The Jasper Project. To support the work of Jasper, including articles like the one above, please consider becoming a member of the Jasper Guild at www.JasperProject.org