Judith Ernst
Having painted, published illuminated books, and lived and traveled extensively in Asia, I now work primarily in ceramics. My past experiences provide a deep well from which I draw ideas, always starting from a "mind’s eye" vision. Beginning in the imagination, the work is in bringing the image into the material world as a physical reality in clay.
My ceramic work features forms and patterns from the natural world and provides a three-dimensional canvas upon which I can experiment with some of the imagery found in my illuminated books. Other pieces are influenced by visual memories of places I have visited, or art that I have seen in museums all over the world. Still others are conceptual. The pot form allows the possibility of working not just with the outside, but with what is implicit in the inside, creating a metaphysical resonance. Implied are the dichotomies between the inner and outer, between that which is hidden and that which is seen, between the esoteric and the exoteric, suggesting infinity in the continuity between the inside and outside.
I have experimented with various surface techniques. More recently I have developed sculptural techniques, cutting through the wall of the pot and manipulating the form to get more depth and dynamic movement to use with my relief carving. I am also experimenting with wax encaustic as an alternative to a glazed surface. My pieces are large and labor intensive and are all one-of-a-kind, though some are variations on a theme.
