Ironclad

Description

A self-taught woodturner from Texas and founding member of the American Association of Woodturners, Clay Foster’s work has gained him a spot in the international spotlight. He credits African art and culture as a significant influence and views his use of patterns as a means of communication.
Ironclad’s pattern speaks through its patchworking of metal and wood and declares Foster’s desire to overcome his “Western fixation on uniformity, regularity, symmetry, and precision.” And yet, in Ironclad, the artist still incorporates some symmetry—circles and lines are repeated throughout—from the lines around the rim and base of the work to the lined lozenge wood patches and circular studs bolting the iron patches to the vessel.
from the exhibition Nature Transformed: Wood Art from the Bohlen Collection, June 12 – October 3, 2004