Artist: Grace McCraw
For the past year, I have been deeply interested in the topics of joy and labor. As someone who takes great joy in creating art, I find myself wondering if art as work is too frivolous and therefore too precarious to survive or gain security in the current capitalist landscape, which values the tangible outputs of labor above all else.
Grace McCraw
Grace McCraw is an artist located in Fayetteville, currently pursuing a BFA at the University of Arkansas. Her ceramic work is primarily interested in exploring themes of pleasure in relation to women and traditional domestic practices.
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Smiley Balloon
$200
Dancing Color
$300
Smiley Balloon
$200
Dancing Color
$300
Smiley Balloon
2022
Stoneware, underglaze, glaze
7 x 8 x 4 inches
Dancing Color
2022
Stoneware, underglaze, glaze
12 x 7.5 x 8.5 inches
ABOUT THE ART
For the past year, I have been deeply interested in the topics of joy and labor. As someone who takes great joy in creating art, I find myself wondering if art as work is too frivolous and therefore too precarious to survive or gain security in the current capitalist landscape, which values the tangible outputs of labor above all else.
My current series of objects are monuments to joy– of the joy of creation, the joy of experiencing art, and the universal joys of the human experience. My work, often characterized by bright and childlike imagery, is tethered to reality through its materiality. I have used the laborious material processes of ceramic art to summon a greater permanence for these objects of joy. A balloon, typically running its joyous life cycle within one week, has been suspended in ceramic indefinitely.
I pride myself on the accessibility of my work, given that most Americans can recognize a party balloon as a symbol of ephemeral joy; however, I am interested in the relics of joy which exist in other cultures and the possibility that to many people around the world less captivated by consumerism, joy cannot be purchased for $1.99. I am conflicted and caught between my own consumerist tendencies, my desire to create genuine moments of joy, and the fixed cost of existing under capitalism. By giving the nuance of joyful moments validity and presence, I hope to allow viewers to consider the labor of joy they find in their lives.
I am interested in the relics of joy which exist in other cultures and the possibility that to many people around the world less captivated by consumerism, joy cannot be purchased for $1.99.
GRACE McCRAW
Work
Blue U Vase
2022
ceramic
12 x 10 x 3.5 inches
W Pale Blue Vase
2022
stoneware, glaze
9.5 x 3 x 5.5 inches
Smiley Balloon
2022
Stoneware, underglaze, glaze
7 x 8 x 4 inches
Purple U Vase
2022
ceramic
9 x 6 x 2 inches
White U Vase
2022
ceramic
Dancing Color
2022
Stoneware, underglaze, glaze
12 x 7.5 x 8.5 inches
Blue U Vase
2022
ceramic
12 x 10 x 3.5 inches
W Pale Blue Vase
2022
stoneware, glaze
9.5 x 3 x 5.5 inches
Smiley Balloon
2022
Stoneware, underglaze, glaze
7 x 8 x 4 inches
Purple U Vase
2022
ceramic
9 x 6 x 2 inches
White U Vase
2022
ceramic
Dancing Color
2022
Stoneware, underglaze, glaze
12 x 7.5 x 8.5 inches
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Artwork by Grace McCraw