Rachel Donner
Like churning your own butter or baking your own bread, there is often something magical about truly making things from scratch. This self-made satisfaction is seeing a revival in recent popular culture and it’s even becoming trendy for typically non-crafty folk to do things like take a pottery class to make their own dishes, grow their own herb gardens, or shave with a straight razor. The revival has sparked somewhat of a handmade appreciation revolution whether people are making their own homewares, or buying someone else’s. The price, utility, and look of pottery makes it highly collectable and many potters recognize that the finished product will almost always end up sharing the stage with food.
North Carolina potter Lindsay Rogers embraces food as a full-on collaborator in her practice intending it to be incorporated into every pot she makes. She keeps food in mind from start to finish and the piece is only complete when the meal is served. She expresses herself through pottery because it is a vehicle for experiences.
“From utilitarian tableware to complex presentation vessels, all of the forms I make have one common thread: to encourage a reconnection with each other and with the food we eat.”
Oftentimes, the dishes in restaurants are unremarkable but effective for the presentation of food because they are plain white. Rogers uses simple black and white surfaces but is able to add compelling depth through subtle surface details. Texture, sheen, and simple color blocking allow food to push and pull visually against the surface of the plate or bowl. Her wares present as the perfect backdrop for something delicious – each color popping against the monochromatic canvas.
Rogers embraces craft pottery history, using brown stoneware and a treadle wheel (also known as a kick wheel) to make her ceramics. Old tools, materials, and farm landscapes weathered by the passing of time influence the visual aspects of Rogers work while food sustainability influences the concept.
“I see distinct beauty in all things marked by time.”
Lindsay Rogers is a potter based in North Carolina. She earned her BA with a concentration in printmaking from Sarah Lawrence College in 2001 and an MFA in ceramics from the University of Florida in 2013.
Follow Lindsay Rogers on Instagram here!
