A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Alfred University
Garden Variety
by
Mackenzie McDonald
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the Alfred University Honors Program April 25, 2022
Under the Supervision of:
Chair: Linda Sikora, Professor and Robert C. Turner Chair of Ceramic Art Committee Members:
Meghan Smythe, Robert C. Turner Teaching Fellow Jason Green, Clinical Assistant Professor
My honors thesis is my BFA exhibition: Garden Variety (figure 1). The exhibition is a garden; a landscape constructed from sculptures that are as subversive as they are sweet. The subversive power of decorative arts employs tongue-in-cheek commentary on consumerism and outdated societal notions of femininity in this body of work. The glorification of banal objects like topiaries and plastic flamingos question the role they play in our material lives. Landscapes of astroturf and glossy majolica evoke imposed ideals and standards of unrealistic beauty. Using kitsch themes and camp aesthetic a dichotomy of perfection vs reality is presented. I’m inspired by the rich history of terracotta with its architectural, sculptural, and functional past. I use terracotta as a vehicle for expression; creating dream-like spaces with fragmented references to an American suburban eutopia. Bilateral symmetry is employed throughout the exhibition as a deliberate means to construct a distinctive space reminiscent of classical
architecture and suburban ubiquity.
All the work is majolica glazed terracotta; for several reasons but primarily because it lends itself well to sculptural pursuits at low temperatures. The aesthetic qualities of terracotta are of great importance to me and the contrast of white majolica against the vibrant hue of terracotta is particularly beautiful. I have chosen this clay body for its historical past and the growing potential of the application of architectural terracotta in the present day. The versatility of terracotta is notable as it is used on building facades, as the very masonry that constructs those buildings, as a sculptural medium, in tilework, and as vessels. Terracotta is a more accessible, common clay than other clay bodies and has been used for thousands of years cross culturally as it is readily available nearly worldwide.
Historically, majolica glaze came about to mimic porcelain which was a commodity as highly sought after and valued as gold. I believe there is some irony in my use of majolica; I am referencing decorative arts of the wealthy European elite, but I am not trying to mimic porcelain. The terracotta is not being hidden; I have chosen to leave it exposed on the collars of my Terracotta Terriers, on the base of my Flamingo Cake Stand, and throughout the Grotto. I want to celebrate the medium and leave evidence of the process and materiality of each work. A variety of processes were used to create the different works including press molding, extruding, coil building, slab construction, and wheel throwing. I see each of these processes as a means to an end; as methods and tools which culminate to create a final piece. This labor of the process is as
important as the finished work.
The focal point of the exhibition is a wall-mounted tile piece titled Grotto (figure 2) with a central fountain measuring approximately 6 feet in height and just over four feet in width. The Grotto is arched at the top and consists of thirteen individual tiles and depicts a garden scene. Two three-tiered topiaries, a lemon tree and an orange tree, sit in flowerpots made of flat slabs. The trunks of the topiaries are the unglazed terracotta tile, and the leaves and fruit are in high relief glazed in majolica. Behind them is lush grass and foliage; a pattern of stylized raspberry and blackberry bushes. A bluebird and a yellow canary bring forth a garland of leaves over top of the topiaries. Two blue
iridescent butterflies float above the grass. In the center of the piece is an iridescent blue fountain echoing the shape of the larger composition; the solid blue, devoid of patterning, provides respite from the horror vacui of the broader composition. In contrast
with the deep blue of the fountain, an orange goldfish with red lips spurts out water into the basin.
Creating this piece was an act of great labor done lovingly. Much care was taken in determining where each leaf should fall. Discrepancies between tiles show evidence of the process; some tiles reached a higher temperature during firings than other tiles.
Those with a darker clay body and foliage which blurs into the white background achieved a higher temperature than those with crisper details devoid of crawling.
Painstaking care was taken throughout each step of the process to make each tile as perfect as possible. Yet that perfection is unattainable as there are so many variables throughout the process. The discrepancies and imperfections that result from the
ceramic process are a part of what makes the Grotto beautiful. These nuances can only be achieved through the handmade process and would not be the same had they been intentional.
Inspired by Italian Renaissance and classical revival grottos, a reality is fabricated transporting you into a dreamlike space. The Grotto is a trope for fabricated reality carefully constructed so as to realize the illusion, a kitschy paragon of classical antiquity.
Flanking the Grotto stand two tall vessels, hybrids between topiaries and terracotta pots. The tops and bottoms of each pot are unglazed terracotta and were thrown on the wheel. The bodies of the vessels consist of foliage and fruit arranged to conceal the looped coils that construct the space between the top and bottom. One pot has oranges and the other lemons. This is a repeating motif of citrus taken from the Grotto, bringing it from high relief to sculpture in the round. The rough edges of the leaves provide
evidence of being pressed into a sprig mold. The topiary pots sit atop two AstroTurf- covered pedestals as if they had grown straight out of the concrete gallery floor. The sheen of the majolica glaze mimics the glistening plastic of the AstroTurf, referencing artificiality.
In the righthand front corner of the room stands a pale pink unicorn, Buttercup (figure 3) atop a faux pink marble pedestal. The unicorn has dramatic false eyelashes symbolizing my own sense of femininity and self-identity. The unicorn’s mouth is open and its golden mane and tail are flowing as if it is running. Buttercup’s horn and hooves are golden and its saddle is outlined in silver. The rectangular support structure in between the unicorn’s front and back legs is glazed pink with a pearlescent finish to subtly distinguish it from the rest of the unicorn’s body. The unicorn was crafted from a large press mold taken from a plastic positive “Wonder Horse” which was found
discarded in a dumpster; a broken child’s toy given a second life and memorialized in ceramic. The unicorn is an act of unbridled joy, an archetype for an unabashed sense of childlike wonderment.
In the lefthand front of the room stands an unusually tall cake stand (figures 4 & 5) held up by two pink flamingos with luscious false eyelashes and golden legs. The flamingos serve as emblems of a suburban eutopia. a decadent allegory for imposed ideals of domestic perfection. A glass cake dome tops the Flamingo Cake Stand which contains a cake. The Flamingo Cake Stand sits atop a three-legged table with a faux pink marble top. The legs of the table are turned wood and painted white, referencing a certain suburban kitchen setting. The edge of table is painted terracotta, the same shade as the exposed edges of the tile piece and the raw terracotta left around the
scalloped glazed edge of the cake stand base. The scallops along the top and bottom of the cake stand are of a similar visual language to the turned table legs, alluding to a domestic environment.
Two pink glazed gold spotted Terracotta Terriers flank the doorway to the gallery. A response to 19th century Staffordshire spaniels (figure 6), these terriers are a kitschy subversion of the status symbol that were their historical predecessors. Staffordshire spaniels graced the mantlepieces of the elite1, yet their hand painted faces with anthropomorphic eyebrows created campy expressions. My terriers capitalize on the facetious features of the spaniels. Instead of being placed on a mantlepiece they sit on the floor where a real dog would sit guarding the gallery and greeting viewers. The terriers are nonthreatening, humorous guards. Their eyebrows comically arch and one dog has its tongue sticking out as if to taunt its sibling. The dogs’ unglazed terracotta collars are studded with Swarovski crystals. The raw terracotta readily acknowledges the material and is in no way attempting to mimic porcelain.
The sculptures transform the gallery into a dreamlike garden. A space is constructed which is neither here nor there but contains elements of familiar domesticity. The idiom
“garden variety” alludes to a suburban eutopia with distinctly American banality characterized by mass produced lawn ornaments such as plastic flamingos and rows
1 Kristina Gyllenberg Holst, “The Story of Staffordshire Dog Figurines,” Barnebys Magazine, Barnebys, April 8, 2020, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_g uide/web_sources.html.
upon rows of identical houses planted like vegetables in a garden.
figure 1: Garden Variety, 2022.
figure 2: Garden Variety, 2022.
figure 3: Buttercup, 2022, majolica glazed terracotta with gold, white gold, and pearl lusters, and false eyelashes, 33 x 36 x 12 in.
figure 4: Flamingo Cake Stand with table, 2022, majolica glazed terracotta with gold luster and false eyelashes, cake, glass, wood, faux marble decal, 66 x 36 x 36 in.
figure 5: Flamingo Cake Stand, 2022, majolica glazed terracotta with gold luster and false eyelashes, cake, glass, 36 x 15 x 13 in.
figure 6: British, Staffordshire, Pair of Spaniels, ca. 1830–50, lead-glazed earthenware with copper luster embellishments, 9 ½ in height. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States.
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