Vase 1893 - 1911

Hugh C. Robertson made this vase out of glazed porcelain; he would have used brushes, sponges, and dipping techniques to bring it into being. It feels like the glaze was applied in layers, pooling and running in unpredictable ways. I imagine him turning the vase, coaxing the colors to blend and separate, and then firing it with a sense of anticipation and maybe even some trepidation, uncertain of the final result. The red glaze at the top feels like a volcanic eruption, contrasting with the cooler greens and blues that cascade down the body. The drips are like brushstrokes frozen in time, each one a record of a particular moment and decision. It makes me think of Helen Frankenthaler's soak-stain paintings from the 1950s, where she poured thinned paint onto unprimed canvas, allowing the colors to merge and bleed into one another. Robertson's vase feels like a conversation with other artists across time and place. His experimentation and his sensitivity to the medium is a reminder that art is a form of embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and allowing for endless possibilities.