Pat Swyler is a fine ceramicist who creates figurines infused with a depth of feeling and beauty. The figures usually display classical Mudras, ( hand gestures ) and manage to reflect the subtlety of meditation.
‘Purity’
” Since childhood the human figure has interested me as subject matter, a fascination which I have explored working from live models in both clay and drawing materials. Although the majority of my work is three dimensional, drawing and painting are essential to development of my ideas in clay.
My current work centers on the human body as a means of expressing concepts. Like dancers, the female forms I sculpt use their bodies to communicate. The symbolic and transient is conveyed through hand positions, postures, facial expressions or included object. The figures are seers and intermediaries who comfort, guide, protect or reveal life’s innermost secrets; they are sentinels at the gates of eternity. Multiple layers of color applied to the surfaces suggest the passage of time. Patterns, surface textures and “tattoos” allude to our common tribal ancestry and records of our yesterdays. The scale of my work is small (six to twenty-four inches), requiring the viewer to look closely, creating a feeling of intimacy. ” – Pat Swyler
Inspiration : The Metropolitan Museum of Art collection of Medieval, Egyptian, Renaissance and Asian sculptures is a source of inspiration. The paintings, drawings, textiles and sculpture of the Rubin Museum have also given me much visual reference material. Incorporating historic iconography into my personal vision of clay is a lifetime obsession.
‘Virtue’ – Pat Swyler
Porcelain – wood fired vessel – Pat Swyler
Stoneware – oxidation fired – Pat Swyler
Raku vase – Pat Swyler
Pat describes her technique : Since first touch clay has been my medium of choice. Its plasticity allows me to rapidly develop forms, while the firing process transforms them into something stone-like, a metamorphosis of the temporary into the permanent. My surface colors are built up gradually with a mixed media approach. Oxides and ceramic colorants are fired onto some surfaces while others are finished with oil and acrylic paint and varnish layers. Experimentation with color layers is exciting and results in a variety of depth and range not otherwise attainable. Multiple clays and firing techniques create dramatic differences in surfaces. The majority of my work is executed in earthenware and porcelain fired in an oxidizing atmosphere in an electric kiln.
Pat Swyler
‘Serenity’ by Pat Swyler
Pat Swyler teapots
Pit fired with gold leaf lidded vessel – Pat Swyler
Pat Swyler
‘Abundance’ – Pat Swyler
Ceramic bust – Pat Swyler
‘Compassion’ – Pat Swyler
Standing meditation statue -Pat Swyler
‘Peace’ – Pat Swyler
Lidded vessel – Pat Swyler
‘Harmony’ – Pat Swyler
‘Serenity 3’
‘Meditate’ – Pat Swyler meditation statue
Pat’s statues at an exhibition
Pat Swyler mudra sculpture
Pat Swyler
Four Sculptures – Pat Swyler
Blissful sculptures by Pat Swyler
Sculptures by Pat Swyler
Meditation statues by Pat swyler
Two female sculptures with mediation poses
More Pat Swyler here
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Kuan Yin and the cicada :
The only time I ever saw an auspicious Cicada in my home was when it came and sat on the Kuan Yin statue. I admired its sense of symmetry.
