{"id":406300,"date":"2023-03-17T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-17T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.1stdibs.com\/blogs\/the-study\/?p=406300"},"modified":"2023-03-17T15:25:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-17T19:25:19","slug":"zoe-powell-vase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.1stdibs.com\/blogs\/the-study\/zoe-powell-vase\/","title":{"rendered":"Zo\u00eb Powell\u2019s Magnolia 05 Vessel Is Handmade from Clay She Unearthed Herself"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Zo\u00eb<\/a>
Zo\u00eb Powell Magnolia 05 vessel, 2021<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

As visually powerful as Zo\u00eb Powell<\/a>\u2019s sensuous Magnolia 05 vessel<\/a> is, its layered meanings are even more profound, reaching deep into the alluvial deposits of Minnesota\u2019s river valleys. That\u2019s where Powell and Mitch Iburg<\/a>, ceramists and partners both in life and in the St. Paul\u2013based Studio Alluvium, dig the clay Powell uses to sculpt ethereal pieces like those in her latest series, \u201cMagnolia,\u201d commissioned by the Brooklyn-based gallery Satyricon<\/a> and offered on 1stDibs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After screening the raw, high-iron material for stones (which she sometimes crushes and mixes back in), the 29-year-old artist hand builds forms imbued with significance that is both personal, harking back to her peripatetic childhood, and universal. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Zo\u00eb<\/a>
Zo\u00eb Powell<\/a> arranges works from her “Magnolia” series. The pieces are made from clay collected from Minnesota’s river valleys and polished to a matte finish with diamond sandpaper.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Dina Alfano, Satyricon\u2019s owner, discovered Powell\u2019s work on Instagram. Captivated, she commissioned the smaller-scale \u201cPerianth\u201d series and then, more recently, the six-piece \u201cMagnolia\u201d series. Some pieces from the latter collection, like the 05 \u2014 measuring 20 inches across and weighing more than 30 pounds \u2014 are substantial enough to hold their own on a pedestal. They’re \u201calso ideal for floor placement,\u201d the gallerist says. \u201cThe artist envisions them integrated within the living environment, considered perhaps a piece of furniture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What drew her to Powell\u2019s work was \u201ctwo pronged: the purity of both form and material,\u201d Alfano says. \u201cHer works are unglazed, unadorned, unembellished, which allows the material to be celebrated. The level of refinement she achieves in the end product, from a crude material she harvests and processes herself, defies expectation.\u201d Each piece is meticulously matte finished by hand with diamond sandpaper, the exposed interior landscape as important as the outer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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