Tag Archives: Sublime ceramics

Pat Swyler Ceramics Sublime

 

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.

 

Pat Swyler Purity sculpture

‘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.

 

Pat Swyler ceramic bust of uan Yin

‘Virtue’  – Pat Swyler

 

Porcelain wood fired vessel with lid

Porcelain – wood fired vessel – Pat Swyler

 

Ceramic vessel with lid Pat Swyler

Stoneware – oxidation fired – Pat Swyler

 

Pat Swyler-vase

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.

 

shell vessel - Pat Swyler

Pat Swyler

 

 

Serenity wall plaque by Pat Swyler - Serenity

‘Serenity’  by Pat Swyler

 

 

two teapots Pat Swyler - orange pumpkin style

 Pat Swyler teapots

 

lidded ceramic box Pat Swyler

Pit fired with gold leaf lidded vessel – Pat Swyler

 

Pat Swyler statue

Pat Swyler

 

Pat Swyler-abundace sculpture

‘Abundance’ – Pat Swyler

 

inner bliss- Pat SwylerCeramic bust – Pat Swyler

 

Pat Swyler Compassion statue

‘Compassion’  – Pat Swyler

 

boddhisatva sculpture - Pat SwylerStanding meditation statue  -Pat Swyler

 

standing Kuan Yin sculpture by Pat Swyler

‘Peace’ – Pat Swyler

 

Ceramic lidded ceramic pumpkin vessel - Pat Swyler

Lidded vessel – Pat Swyler

 

Pat Swyler-Harmony sculpture

‘Harmony’ – Pat Swyler

 

Pat Swyler Serenity 3 sculpture

‘Serenity 3’

 

Pat Swyler meditation statue -seated posture - inner calmness

‘Meditate’ – Pat Swyler meditation statue

Pat’s statues at an exhibition

Pat Swyler exhibition sculpture

Pat Swyler mudra sculpture

 

 

Pat-Swyler---sculpture female figure - vision of calm

Pat Swyler

 

 

Pat Swyler-four sculptures

Four Sculptures – Pat Swyler

 

 

Pat Swyler ceramic statues

Blissful sculptures by Pat Swyler

 

 

Pat Swyler ceramic sculptures

Sculptures by Pat Swyler

 

 

Ceramicist Pat-Swyler exhibition

Meditation statues by Pat swyler

 

 

Pat Swyler two statues with meditation poses

Two female sculptures with mediation poses

 

 

Pat Swyler female figure with mudra statue

More Pat Swyler here

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Kuan Yin and the cicada :

A live cicada visiting the Kuan Yin statue in the lounge room

 

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.