In the 1960s and 70s, the BYU Art Department was dominated by artists that were experimenting in media and form. Warren Wilson, a major leader of this movement, was an accomplished ceramics professor whose approach focused on exploring the natural connections between Earth and art. His piece 3 Storied Church Window Pot stands as a case study for the art coming from BYU in this era and Wilson’s personal dynamic within his own work.
This piece is built from iron-rich stoneware with grog, a crushed ceramic in the clay, which was a technique developed anciently and used to make the structure shrink less in the kiln. The rich metals in the clay are what creates the texture in the ceramic. Wilson also used a feldspar glaze which makes it more durable for the outdoors. This material endurance and tie to the ceramics of antiquity was crucial to Wilson’s ethos. In 1972, he hosted a summer class wherein the students lived without modern amenities in the mountains near Springville, where they made their own tools, clay, and pots, which they fired in pits according to ancient traditions.
The “pot”—a humble term for this tall, complex work—also shows many architectural motifs from across the world and throughout history. Moorish and Roman arches can be seen alongside rose and clerestory windows, like those often built into cathedrals. Here, Wilson gives a more holistic approach to his ceramic creation and design to signify the universality of certain structures through history. His creative process emphasizes this attitude. The result is a long-lasting piece that pays homage to many influential architectural styles. From his piece, we ask ourselves, “In what ways do earlier practices continue to shape our worldview? And how can we too be inspired and create from what has come before us?”
Guest written by Curatorial Fellow Grace Truett
