This exceptional multi-piece set stands out as a definitive statement in contemporary design ceramics, actively bridging the gap between functional heritage and modern conceptual storytelling. The two hand-built porcelain jars reject industrial symmetry to embrace the plump bellies and wide silhouettes celebrated in prehistoric fertility figurines. Coated in multi-layered, deep midnight blue glazes, the clay surfaces function as a multi-dimensional canvas for intricate poetry handwritten using precise sgraffito etching techniques. Because the written verses seamlessly spill across the boundaries of the separate vessels, Hodge creates a striking visual allegory reflecting the fragmented and scattered nature of women's shared history and creative records.
“Me soaking up the light..” Me soaking up the light of you. I imagine you so close to me we blur into each other’s atoms creating our own rhythms, a whole world of us in a daydream. Every time you think of me, I think of you. “The weight of your head..” The weight of your head on my ribcage is bathing me in gold flames. My heart begins to cave in. I am floating in a dense fog of your sigh as you sink in..
The design lady cups reference the ancient tradition of feminine totems and goddess figures with their plump bellies and wide hips. In contrast to contemporary beauty ideals, these figures demonstrate the capacity for life and abundance that used to be celebrated. By covering large sections of their forms with her own poetic text, she fills them with a narrative of love, each poem spilling from one cup to the next. The continuity across feminine forms reflects the way that women’s stories are often fragmented by culture and time.
Explore a sophisticated sculptural proposal, this contemporary ceramic design work by Alex Hodge available on our online art website.
Contemporary Design Ceramics - Diptych, 2019. By Alex Hodge
Me soaking up the light and The weight of your head Diptych, 2019
From Fragments Of Our Love Story series
Porcelain cup with sgraffito detailing
Dimensions:
Overall size: 4 H x 6 W x 3 D in.
Individual size: 4 H x 3 W x 3 D in.
Hodge studied and graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Ceramics, with notable exhibitions such as Unsung Muses and Eyes That Bind, graduating summa cum laude and receiving honors such as the Outstanding Undergraduate Award. Here, clay became the conduit that allowed her to speak of her experience and, more importantly, her frustrations. Always curious to acquire more knowledge and skills, she pursued a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Miami. There she obtained the summer scholarship and the William Oberman Award, and graduated summa cum laude. During this time, she moved from expressions of anger to prioritizing love between women, the deep well of internal feminine landscapes and the historical exploration of women in relation to the present through ceramic material. Since then, her works have been exhibited at the Morean Arts Center, Arts Benicia and the Imurj Gallery, among others. She currently resides in rural Georgia, where she transforms her stories into sculptures that reveal what has been historically hidden.
