Mary Baugh

I am attracted to function. I sew bags to carry, clothes to cover. I bind a book to be written in.  I throw a pot to hold volumes of tea, flowers and more. I create utilitarian forms that look handcrafted while not sacrificing their functionality.  My desire is to define the obsessive relationship between the user and their favorite mug; one that will be washed clean and used before any other mug in the kitchen.

In my current body of work I am trying to initiate a dialogue between the vessel and the user.  These Apollo-Contra forms tell a story that begins with a Saturday evening Contra-dance, and is translated into forms that seem to float on the table with skirts not just flirting with the surface but defying their relationship to the table.  The night ends in the gentle glazes and patterns channel hours of lying in the grass and stargazing, while colors and layers in the glaze are reminiscent of telescope photos of the galaxy. Texts allow the pot to start a conservation with the user by prompting questions derived while looking towards the night sky. The words encourage the user to think of their own answers and also to consider that yes, their pot was made by another person.