Wilton Symposium

You & i are… Earth
Saturday, October 1, 2016
9:00AM to 3:00PM

Event Link

You and i are . . . Earth, featuring internationally recognized ceramic artist Michelle Erickson, inspires Wilton House Museum’s next symposium. Building on the themes explored in the exhibition, the day’s presentations will reconsider: the on-going dialog with the Colonial past, the discovery and conservation of ceramic objects, the display and exhibition of the decorative arts, the meaning of our historic sites, and the traditional use of ceramics to call for social justice and political stability. The day will include a demonstration by Michelle Erickson, allowing attendees to share in the process of creating her ceramic artwork.

Please join us for the concluding program of this celebrated exhibition.

Program:

Rob Hunter, Editor, Ceramics in America
Playing with the Past: The Ceramic Art of Michelle Erickson
This lecture will discuss the works of internationally recognized ceramic artist Michelle Erickson. Known for her mastery of historical ceramic techniques, Erickson creates satirical, playful, and poignant statements about contemporary social issues. At first glance, her ceramic works often appear whimsical but innocuous concoctions drawn from a rich imagination. However, using a materials ranging from Wedgwood’s jasperware to locally dug clays, her audience is treated to layers of multiple meanings in confronting topics such as global warming, corporate and political corruption, and child slavery.

Her work is replete with visual puns that provoke and amuse at the same time. She often channels William Hogarth through the use of humor, caricature and exaggeration in her clay art. Garth Clark has mischievously dubbed Erickson a “Post Modern Chameleon” and Glenn Adamson described her as “magpie flitting through ceramic history.” In The Pot Book, Edmund de Waal included her “Pectin Shell Teapot” in his top 300 world’s pots. Her art has stood apart from much of the contemporary ceramic and craft community by its historical depth and technological virtuosity. As a consequence, those with decorative art backgrounds have been most receptive to her work.

Carter C. Hudgins, Jr., Ph.D., President and CEO, Drayton Hall Preservation Trust
Forming and Transforming a Masterpiece: The Past and Future of Drayton Hall
Within studies of American architecture and material culture, Drayton Hall (c.1738) is regarded as an icon of colonial identity that reflects an intimate connection to popular European design, sophisticated craftsmanship, and the wealth of South Carolina’s plantation economy. Complementing Drayton Hall’s architecture is a remarkable collection of surviving furniture, ceramics, artwork and artifacts that exhibit distinctive patterns of 18th century consumption, taste and intellect. Drawing from surviving resources, this presentation will explore the 18th century formation of Drayton Hall and the values that led to its survival. This will be followed by a discussion of Drayton Hall’s future, including a vision to transform the site by improving the visitor experience and expanding our stewardship of the past.

Sylvia Yount, Lawrence A. Fleischman Curator in Charge of the American Wing, Metropolitan Museum of Art
You’ll Be Back: Reviving and Rethinking the Colonial
America’s most enduring cultural phenomenon—the Colonial Revival—is once again in vogue. In both “high” and popular forms—from Michelle Erickson’s evocative You and I are . . . Earth exhibition, Stacy Schiff’s The Witches, and the recent Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible to the Hamilton: An American Musical juggernaut as well as Robert Eggers’s independent film The Witch, and the Virginia-filmed cable drama Turn—not to mention various socio-political debates, the relevancy of the 17th and 18th century for contemporary America is inescapable. This talk explores how our nation’s tendency to understand its historical past through the present has shaped our visual and material landscapes, ideologies, and values for the last four centuries.

Scott Nolley, Fine Arts of Virginia Conservation

Michelle Erickson Demonstration

Jon Prown, Chief Curator, Chipstone Foundation