Artwork of the Week: December 15
This humble pot speaks through its contrasts: it is both rough and smooth, dull and lustrous, burdened and hopeful. Hardened, stony clay shrouds the pot, gradually peeling off to reveal the refined turquoise surface beneath. The beauty of this work lies in the midst of change and creation, instead of simply in the perfected result.
The artist, Matthew Geddes, drew inspiration for this work from his childhood spent on his family’s walnut and almond farm. There, he witnessed the process of hulling—the removal of a nut’s protective outer shell. As an adult, he noticed a similar phenomenon in pottery where a dark outer shell is naturally created in the firing process and peeled away to unveil the masterpiece. In this work, Geddes lets the “skin” of the pot remain, as a metaphorical connection to the constant process of transformation each human undergoes. In this season, may we remember the divine origin of our creation, praising, “Oh Lord, thou art our father, we are the clay, and thou our potter, and we all are the work of thy hand,” (Isaiah 64:8).
Guest written by Curatorial Fellow Allie Sena.
