Joseph Heffernan – Gush

Description

Artist Statement

“Gush” is a ceramic sculpture made from stoneware fired to cone 6. The surface is decorated with underglazes and a clear overglaze. This work uses line, shape, color, and form to express notions I have about environmental damage from oil extraction.

The form may reference a heart, or the earth, or an unsustainable system. The black
and green intentionally refer to oil and sepsis respectively. I believe the multi-colored element could be interpreted as a path, but I was thinking about the political games of chance and risk oil companies and their supports play that enable them to enrich themselves at all costs, so I think that thought manifested itself as a game-board-like element. A more obvious reference to games and game-boards can be found in the
checkerboard patterns and the intensity and opacity of the colors. Though there is meaning I also, more simply,enjoy using line, shape, and color to enhance a form.