1999 — Untitled , Steve Welch

Untitled
Steve Welch
1999
University of Southern Maine
Bailey Hally, 1st Floor                                                                                        

Steve Welch (1999)

My surreal architecture is influenced by self-taught artists and improvised objects: creations such as the "crazy quilt" or the squatter's shack made from scrap materials and pieced together in a random pattern. These "low forms" touch me on an intuitive level with their existence based on creative survival. I work in a similar direct manner, with low-tech ceramic processes, in order to avoid over-crafting. My intent is to instill in the work a subtle sense of humor and to comment on certain precepts of contemporary craft.

In this work, industrial structures serve as a point of departure. I build with an improvisational attitude, using colored sections of clay to construct a whimsical patchwork. The method is similar to both stone masonry and quilt-making.