Caitlyn Marsh
Chasm
materials funded: glaze materials, extruder dies, air compressor, spray booth
This series of extruded ceramic sculptures express division. Wide gaps expanding wider. Visible and not visible, a divide is surrounding absolutely everything. The rift tears middle ground, cultivates detachment, sharpens edges, and stimulates tension. Ground becomes unanchored, sinking. A bottomless chasm is standing in the void trying to swallow us all.
This series, titled Chasm, has a strong focus on line and how it interacts with space around it. Wherever a line points, space follows along its edges, defining sides and drawing borders. Lines in my sculptures portray an erratic trajectory with sharp angles cutting into space, opposing lines that connect, abruptly stop, or drive into the ground.
Broken and closed rings are ways of displaying the emotions I associate with this opposition. The vulnerability of a broken ring straying without a base, easy to snap, versus closed rings that go full circle, fortify, and build strength from complete closure.
For surface treatment, I relied on the strong visual opposition of black and white glaze. Mu surface decoration incorporates glaze resists, creating patterns of yes and no, x and y.
About the artist
Since 2007, Caitlyn Marsh has been working in community arts centers to share her knowledge and respect for the ceramic arts. Caitlyn frequently meets new artists and instructors who contribute to the vibrant ceramic arts community, and works to bring professionals and students together.
As Ceramics Program Director at Mother Brook Arts and Community Center in Dedham, MA, Caitlyn strives to provide a safe, highly functional ceramics studio for people of all ages and levels of interest. Once becoming a resident of Worcester, MA in 2019, she accomplished her life-long goal to construct a home ceramics studio.
