Malcolm Wright Abstract Wood-Fired Clay Sculpture

Amazing wood-fired sculpture by master potter, Malcolm Wright. Made from pure Georgia brick clay, circa 2003.

Wright's career started after a trip to Japan in 1970, and is still making amazing work today in Marlboro, VT. Artist statement (from Wright's website) In my college years I was interested in the roots of modernism, from the development of cubism, constructivism and futurism to Scandinavian design, and the time/space elements in architecture. These interests were interrupted for 30 years by my deep involvement with Japan, functional pottery for food and flowers and in the ascetic, restrained taste of tea ceremony pottery. Over the last 20 years my early interest has reawakened. Walking around the fields among Chuck Ginnivers’s monumental sculptures, here in Vermont, inspired me to revisit these interests. Slowly, I became aware of the power of minimalism as expressed in Tony Smith’s work. More recently, the work of Jorge Oteiza and the foam sculptures of John Chamberlin have inspired me. The nature of clay, and my years working with tabletop scale, directs me to a small size that is comfortable, yet retains power. I am interested in dry surfaces, without ash build up, and negative space. I think the sense of Japanese restraint and Western minimalism combine, in these pieces, the forms and ideas I studied more that 40 years ago.