NEHMA | Collection - Blue Carved Horse

Christine Federighi

American
(1949–2006)

Blue Carved Horse
1987

Earthenware with polychrome glaze
46 x 28.5 x 13 in.
Gift of the artist
1989.43

Christine Federighi literally coiled, carved, and colored her way into ceramics history. Her work is often as tall as Blue Carved Horse, or even taller. This sculpture is related to an extended series of tabletop slab houses, with stick figures astride the roof. Federighi has said: “The image or symbol of a figure and house have been constant to my ideas . . . I have allowed symbols to freely develop and become part of my body of work.” Blue Carved Horse is made of coiled red earthenware clay fired at nineteen hundred degrees Fahrenheit. After firing, the pieces are sealed with a ground, usually black spray paint. Oil paint is then dry-brushed over the surface in a painterly way, layering one color over another for a varied effect. The paint is allowed to dry, usually for two weeks, and then sealed with a clear satin polyurethane.

Federighi grew up in San Mateo, California. She received her BFA in 1972 from the Cleveland Institute of Art and her MFA in 1974 from Alfred University, New York. From 1974 to 2006 she was professor of ceramics at the University of Miami at Coral Gables. In 1983, she was the visiting artist at the Bezalel School of Art in Jerusalem.

Billie Sessions, PhD.

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blue, horse