Artist: Barbara Strassberg

A series of porcelain or stoneware boats, first created as wall pieces, and then extended to pedestal works.  The initial idea was to present a closed boat form in an unfamiliar way, isolated and hung vertically on the wall.  The surface of the boats are drawings based on aerial photographs of mostly farm land.  The form is simple, yet strong and although it is hanging on the wall, the boat is angled to suggest motion, as a boat in water. The maplike drawings meander around the boat’s surface from side to top and side again. Initially the boats were made with porcelain slabs, with a dry surfaces and subtle neutral colored underglazes. They are quiet and contemplative.  

Stoneware boats have a gloss glaze and are black and white like the aerial photos. Most have porcelain slip, drawings filled with black underglaze, and some have celadon glaze giving them a darker look.

The pedestal boats are open and reveal the inside, which is a continuation of the drawing on the outside, giving one a more complex way to navigate the piece.  

Boat: 3”h x 26”w x 4”d 
Cage: 4.75” h x 20”w x 5”d