Kathy Triplett - Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny

earthenware
2004

Partnership: Departments of History, Philosophy and Religion
Location: Entrance to Hardin Hall – Interior

This work is comprised of 84 tiles that are 10 inches square spanning the length of a 60 foot curved wall outside the large auditorium in Hardin Hall. The work explores significant events and various academic programs unique to the history of Clemson University.

A native of Orangeburg, SC, Kathy Triplett attended the Universidad de las Americas in Pueblo, Mexico and received her B. A. from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA. Additionally, she honed her artistic skills in courses at La Meridiana, Italy; Arrowmont School, Tennessee; Castle Clay, Colorado; and the architecture department at Georgia Tech.

While in Mexico, Triplett developed an interest in the geometric elements of that region’s Olmec and Aztec architecture, which led to an interest in Art Deco architecture and design. Travels to Barcelona, Spain and an interest in the work of Gaudi contributed to a tendency towards more organic forms in her work. A recent trip to Mali, in west Africa, brought the influences of the colors of mudcloth and the shapes of the mud mosques and houses, to her work. A study of terra-sigillata in Italy encouraged more natural and warmer surfaces to the wall tiles she creates now.

But what explains the sea creature and insect-like forms in the work? Time spent every year exploring the shores of Edisto Island, SC, where horseshoe crabs and sharks’ teeth are found in abundance, contributes to the shapes and to the small detailed natural object additions on the teapots and the wall pieces.

Windows and openings from one layer into another are abiding elements in the work, metaphors for the layers of the self, or for the process of uncovering another world that lies beyond this one. An interest in texture and contrast leads Triplett to lengthy glaze testing in order to find new and intriguing surfaces.

Though she began her career as a wheelthrower, now handbuilding with slabs and coils is the method used to manipulate the clay. She is the author of Handbuilt Ceramics and Handbuilt Tableware and has exhibited at SOFA New York and Chicago, New Art Forms, Chicago; First International Tokyo Crafts Expo, Tokyo, Japan; The TeaParty, American Craft Museum, New York, NY; Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR, and is included in collections from Bolivia to Japan. She is a member of Piedmont Craftsmen, Inc., and the Southern Highland Guild and currently serves on the board of Handmade in America, Asheville, NC.

She lives in Weavervile, NC, with her husband and two dogs, in a solar house filled with handmade tiles and ceramic wall sconces, and works in a handbuilt studio nearby.

Artist's Statement

The title for this piece is inspired by the idea of the single cell and how it progresses to a complex organism. As it develops, it marches through the path it took through evolution. As an example, one can still find vestiges of undeveloped gills in humans. I used this idea of progression as a metaphor to represent the development and evolution of the university, from the initial spark of an idea in Thomas Green Clemson’s mind, through its expansion, diversification, and growth into a complex and more open institution, which is in many ways like the growth of the individual student. As he or she progresses through the path of learning that the university offers, and becomes gradually changed by the experience, the student becomes more complex, developed, and hopefully, more open to change and all the new experiences that life brings.

Each of the 84 tiles offers information relating to the history of learning and the history of Clemson University. From Pythagoras, Hegel, foreign languages, early military uniforms, agricultural research, first black students, and sports, to current research on fire ants and textiles, as well as significant trees on campus, the tiles cover a plethora of ideas that appealed to me specifically in a sculptural sense. Some tiles are quite obvious in their representation; tiger eyes, for example, whereas others are more elusive, such as the small altar, which represents the department of religion located in Hardin Hall. Several tiles were formed of impressions in clay taken directly from particular trees on campus. Some incorporate actual objects from the school, such as the synthetic thread made in the textile department.