I have been invited to be a Visiting Artist and ceramics professional at the Hiramatsu B Site Archeological Excavation in Nakatane-cho, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan in December 2024- January 2025, where I will participate in this archeological excavation that examines the origins of pottery, Incipient Jomon ca. 14,000/13,500-12,800.
As an artist and educator, I have always been interested in the history of ceramics and how it can influence what we make today. Over the past five years, Professor Karisa Terry, PhD of the Central Washington University’s (CWU) department of Archaeology have been sending me her students who want to learn about how the artifacts they are studying could have been made. Working with the archeological department has shown the importance of contemporary artists lending their expertise about how artifacts could have been made or used. Because of this, Dr. Terry and her colleague in Japan, Fumie Iizuka, PhD, have invited me to help with their research excavation. In preparation for this I have attended Dr. Terry’s Field School to learn how to uncover, identify, and document artifacts. In Japan there is no word for archaeology, it is called history. Grade school students will be visiting the active site while we are there as part of their history lesson. As well as helping with the excavation, my role will be to demonstrate how the Jomon era pottery we are finding could have been made.
This collaboration with art and science has influenced my artwork as I have been recreating female monuments and sculptures from art history. I plan on making a series of hand build vessels in response to this research and giving a public presentation about the experience at the Palace Gallery in Ellensburg, WA (summer 2025). I look forward to seeing how this research and experience will impact my studio practice.