Description

Faces in Ceramics: People, Pots and Poems is a visually stimulating and aesthetically pleasing book which consists of original photographs and poems showing one-of-a-kind ceramic faces, pots and masks by two Australian sculptors and one American author/poet/photographer. The book draws together photography, poetry and ceramics and is a celebration of the clay medium in its most beautiful form. Accompanying most of the ceramic pieces is a poem that richly describes the essence of and gives meaning to each of the photographed ceramics.
The photographs in the book lie at the intersection of art, sculpture and poetry. The arts are visual and tactile and are coupled with rich and provocative literary allusions. The photographs are designed to evoke emotions since visual data often bypasses the brain and moves straight to the heart. As this occurs with the book's images, the poetry is designed to provoke humanistic images which are in many cases historically based on key moments in the characters' lives. Among the heroic and historic faces are ceramics depicting Joan of Arc, Anne Boleyn, Anne Page, Shakespeare's Desdemona and Lady Beatrice, Hildegard of Bingen and Jesus of Nazareth.
In addition to heroic figures and prototypical adults, the book covers themes such as love, longing and devotion; mythical figures and quirky faces; family; emotions; the human condition; and faces in other places.