Continuing through May 6, 2014
The theme of female empowerment permeates the figurative ceramic sculptures of San Francisco-based Jane Burton, whose works recall ancient fertility goddesses, yet present them on a heroic scale. In the commanding “Second Thoughts,” the figure rises up from a pedestal to stand 100 inches high. The aquamarine “Le Dolce Vita” stands 77 inches high and exudes a free-spirited, dance-like quality. Even with her smaller pieces, each of Burton’s figures take on a persona. In “Second Thoughts,” for instance, the figure rests one hand behind her neck and the other hand on her waist, with that palm open, prompting interpretations of sensuality, openness and dominance.
Influenced by Native American coiling and firing techniques, Burton typically creates her figures by wrapping wide ribbons of clay, mummy-like, into exaggerated legs and hips, topped by a thin torso and sometimes a primitive head. Earthy colors and textured surfaces add to the visual appeal, as do indecipherable scrawls of writing along the body’s curves. Almost all pieces double as vessels because Burton leaves an opening at the top from which, she says, female energy is meant to flow.
