Gail Busch

American, b. 1958

Cameroon
1994

Earthenware
9.75 x 6 x 2 in.
Gift of the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation
1994.40

Gail Busch’s Cameroon is a whimsical reimagining of the traditional teapot form. Composed of earthenware clay, the vessel has two stacked lids identical in shape to the base form of the teapot, but scaled down in size in a nesting-doll manner. Each element has been glazed in a checkerboard pattern of rich green, red, and yellow suggested by the Cameroon flag, with additional areas of black and brown. The piece exemplifies Busch’s sculptural approach to pottery, which, she says, blurs “the sometimes meaningless distinction between the concepts of representation and presentation.”

Born in Tucson, Arizona, in 1958, Busch attended the Kansas City Art Institute, where she studied ceramics with her colleague and future partner Louis Katz. Together they have traveled the world, and the influence of these experiences is clearly visible in Busch’s work, particularly the pottery and architecture of Thailand and Japan. She currently works as an artist and educator in Corpus Christi, Texas, where Katz is a professor of ceramics at Texas A&M University.

Ayla Murray

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This object has the following keywords:

• checker pattern - A bold geometric pattern of regularly placed alternating squares or lozenges of contrasting colors or textures.
• red
• teapot

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

• Ceramic Case 9: Texture and Lustre , 8/21/2012 - 5/6/2014
• Champ Hall Ceramics , 2/7/2017 - 1/28/2022
• Form vs. Function: Teapots from the NEHMA Collection , 2/9/2017 - 12/14/2018
• Unearthed , 8/23/2022 - 5/14/2023

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