Every week new works of art come to the gallery and are inventoried and photographed. Some pieces go into scheduled theme exhibits while others are installed in the Studio Collection. To give you an insider’s view at some of these pieces here is a Bert Gallery Inventory Spotlight!

Jeff Margolin
Terracotta Covered Pot
18″ x 9″ x 9″
$850.

Jeff Margolin has worked for over twenty-five years to hone his prodigious technique with porcelain and terra cotta. Margolin’s labor intensive process consists of building the forms up with strips of clay and then meticulously carving into the damp clay before the piece is burnished and fired. An evolution of his forms can be seen in Terracotta Covered Pot, in which the carvings have been integrated into the sculpture. Furthermore, Margolin uses the detailed carvings to complement and echo the gentle curves of the flawlessly smooth surface making “a convincing transition between rough and smooth,” (Channing Gray, Providence Journal 2000).

Traditional pots such as this exemplifies Margolin’s technical proficiency, however his talent for combining sculpture and carving is undeniable. “Margolin’s porcelain and terracotta sculptures make for a fascinating show of form and craft,” (Providence Journal Review, May 2000). Margolin’s work embodies the life and energy of nature, melding technical mastery with mature artistic passion.

Margolin has taught ceramics at both University of California at Berkeley and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His work has been shown at galleries in Rhode Island, California, and New Mexico.

Margolin’s Process

Margolin constructs his pots either on a wheel or by hand, then draws a design on the clay with a needle and continually carves the design as the pieces dry. He then burnished them with a stone and fires them using a variety of methods. Margolin states that he attempts to “create a sense that the surface of the pieces are a thin skin with the cared interior breaking through at critical points.

Using a low-fire clay, Margolin places human hair and sawdust into the porcelain, which creates veins in the surface. This gives the porcelain fine surface details that look completely natural within the porcelain. Because his work is low-fired, his pieces can be scratched, which also gives them an extra delicacy, and require the dame care one would afford a painted canvas.