RAM Showcase: Focus on Clay

In an anthropological context, the history of ceramics is most often associated with function. In an art historical framework, clay underwent a revolution in the mid-twentieth century as more and more artists were pushing its boundaries in theory, concept, and form. This encouraged a shift away from function and towards concept-based sculpture and explorations of material. Presently, artists flex their artistic muscle at will—using clay to create functional or sculptural work as they choose and investigating clay on historical, personal, social, and cultural terms as well as practical and material ones.

As a RAM Showcase exhibition, Focus on Clay centers on the work of artists of color and those represented here specifically reflect a range of artistic practices and approaches. Taken collectively, these objects represent multiple decades of working with clay.

It is important to point out that while there are theoretically no limitations to the materials any artist can use, there have historically been barriers to some artists of color in the United States—indirect or otherwise—to access to tools, materials, or studio spaces. In this current moment, more and more efforts are being made to not just support and encourage the work of artists of color but also to draw attention to the work that has already been created.