Lauren E. Cunningham
ARTWORKS
ABOUT
STATEMENT
BIOGRAPHY
EXHIBITION HISTORY
PRESS
2023
Sun Study

2020
Toothpick Tree

2017
Scorched Earth

2014
Hope

2012
Tomorrow
LIE
Relief

2011
Under Construction

2010
Rope
Circumstance
Knife
Deep Seat
Focus
Window
Conveyor
Chaos
Purge

2009
Graveside Performance
Echoes
Philosopher's Room
Push
Curiosity
Portrait of the Artist

2008
Locus
Burst
Untitled (Bird)
Coil
Shell
Hearth

2007
In-Between
Cairn
Untitled (Broken)
The Source
Dipoint Cascade

2006
Hole Punch Collage II
Hole Punch Collage I
Bronze Combs
Comb Curtain

All images © Lauren Cunningham 2023
Artworks
Scorched Earth
2017
Wheel-thrown, raku-fired clay
3 cups, each 5-5.5" h. and 3-3.25" dia.

These cups are literally made of "scorched earth" and also have textures reminiscent of dry, cracked dirt. The cups are further decorated with simple geometric shapes, which, in the context of the dry-earth texture, have profound implications. A black circle suggests a deep hole, a crater, or an eclipse; a large yellow-orange circle conveys the sun's scorching heat; and a grid of thin black lines is reminscent of a cage or fence. Together, the cups evoke images of treacherous terrain, ominous astronomical events, extreme weather, restricted movement, and defined borders.

This dark imagery is contradicted by the cups' function as drinking vessels. Cups are used to contain and consume beverages, of which water is usually the primary ingredient. Water is required for sustaining all life, yet in the arid, hostile world that the cups conjure, this free-flowing, universally-nourishing substance is noticeably absent.