McClain Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of ceramic sculpture by New York-based Fiona Waterstreet. A reception to celebrate the artist’s premiere exhibition at McClain Gallery will take place on Tuesday, November 12, from 5 – 7pm.
Fiona Waterstreet began throwing clay using a wheel a decade ago at the Greenwich House Pottery Studio in New York City. After mastering vessels, she began sculpting with porcelain and sculpting clay, and now her works are expertly crafted using a combination of both hand-built and wheel techniques. The pieces created using slab constructions reveal the expressiveness of the artist’s hand, while varied firing and glazing techniques allow for a spirit of experimentation.
Waterstreet’s admiration of botanicals is manifest in a pair of vases with sculptural vines crawling over their surfaces. Reminiscent of aging garden pots, these vases become extensions of nature. Animated birds with balloon-like bellies seem to playfully nod towards a sculptural dialogue with the drawings and paintings of her husband, artist John Alexander.
In other vessels with more statuesque proportions or handled jugs, she explores sgrafitto and organic slip designs. Candelabras and abstract forms glazed in solid black accentuate the importance of line and shadow. Elsewhere, hand-textured and spikey surfaces, intentional collapses, and occasionally gilded elements highlight the tactility of her work and throw function to the wind.
Born in England, Fiona Waterstreet moved to the United States in the early 1980s. She currently lives and works in New York City and in Amagansett. She has had solo exhibitions at The Drawing Room in East Hampton, New York (2018) and at Tayloe Piggott Gallery in Jackson, Wyoming (2018-2019).
