Susan Gregory's tableware titled Hellenic Series is presented Fall 2024 in our museum store. The pieces are a white stoneware. The surface design uses white slip, black underglaze, hand-drawn incised lines with a clear glaze coating. They are wheel-thrown.
"After a transformative stint living in Greece this spring and summer, first at an art residency and then traveling throughout, I have been compelled to translate my experience into works at the studio here in Charleston. When I landed in Athens, I headed straight to the Cycladic Museum. There I studied the forms and surface design of the ancients that felt so contemporary. The shapes and mark making were familiar to my ongoing pottery practice yet gave me ground to expand my approaches in glazing. In Greece I worked in low-fire terra cotta and became accustomed to the warm clay body juxtaposed with the contrast of black and white. At home, I am using Buff Stoneware to achieve a similar color range and fire in our cone 5/6 kilns. The Fidi Stein(part of the Hellenic Hunch tableware) comes from an evening having beers with my studio mates at a local taverna. The glass served had this subtle angle towards the bottom which I found very fresh and interesting. I set about recreating it and making my own version in clay once home. I look forward to expanding on these designs with larger serving pieces and bowls. I’m pleased to share my first works of this Hellenic Series at the Gibbes. " - Susan Gregory, October 2024