In Clay, Syd Carpenter Explores Nature, African American History, and the Land

"Imagining a papery leaf if it were inflated, perhaps to the size of a cat, the resulting forms take on "the girth, weight and physicality of animals," she says. Carpenter is known for her clay-based practice exploring the body, land, agriculture, and African American history. She taps into the ancient legacy of the material, merging the timeless medium with contemporary concerns. Perception and expectations are thoughtfully challenged as we encounter bulbous, creature-like beings that simultaneously seem alive and inanimate."

"In her recent Farm Bowl series, Carpenter considers another enduring juxtaposition, especially in the world of craft: form and function. She transforms the ubiquitous shape of a bowl into a series of tableaux that delve into relationships between African Americans and the land. Investigating ideas of utility, labor, place, and narrative, the sculptures are encircled by farm animals, foodstuffs, modest houses, and fences."

Syd Carpenter sculpts with clay to reimagine leaves and bowls as large, tactile forms that probe history, labor, and place. The Expanded Leaf series inflates papery leaf shapes into bulbous, animal-like objects that blur animate and inanimate qualities. The Farm Bowl series repurposes the universal bowl into tableaux populated by animals, foodstuffs, houses, and fences to explore utility, labor, narrative, and Black connections to land. Carpenter leverages clay’s ancient legacy to merge traditional craft with contemporary concerns, using scale and familiar forms to surface memory and social histories tied to agriculture and landscape.

Read at Colossal