Michael Schwegmann

I hand form all these pieces out of porcelain clay. People will recognize the references of most of these sculptures, such as common hand tools, metal buckets, paint cans, and industrial components. The familiarity of these sculptures makes them immediately accessible to the viewer; often the viewer has a personal story or connection to the represented object. Rendering them in porcelain and glaze allows me to add to that narrative. I change the scale of the work, use glazes, and leave the hand-made marks to indicate to an engaged viewer that this object is more than what it may first seem at a distance. These sculptures are often icons which may represent a whole industry, the idea of labor, or maybe something as simple as “dad”. I use these icons and the process of hand-forming with clay to say complicated ideas in a contained format. I choose objects that have a personal meaning to me, and these objects are often icons that engage the intellect and emotion in unexpected ways.