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Image of Spiral (lapse 4)

Von Allen (aka Von Allen-McGowan)

American, b. 1950

Spiral (lapse 4)
1989

Stoneware
54.75 x 18 x 7 in.
Gift of the artist
1991.27

Spiral (lapse 4) is one of Von Allen’s archetypal handlike forms. Its curves swell upward and outward from a tenuously narrow base, while its colorful matte exterior achieves great richness and depth. The sculpture’s smooth surface and timeless anthropomorphism formally connect it with early stone carving and vessel traditions as well as with modernist abstract sculpture. Stoneware, fired at a high temperature, results in a nonporous and durable clay body, and is often used in the creation of large-scale ceramic sculpture.

Born in Union City, Pennsylvania, in 1950, Allen studied at Edinboro State College in Pennsylvania before earning her MFA in ceramics at Syracuse University in New York. Allen served as the assistant director of the Erie Art Museum before accepting a teaching position in the ceramics program at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

Sara Morris

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This object has the following keywords:
biomorphic, orange, Spirals

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This object is a member of the following portfolios:
Thumbnail image of Unearthed | The NEHMA Ceramics Collection & The Woman Behind It
Unearthed | The NEHMA Ceramics Collection & The Woman Behind It
Thumbnail image of Ceramics
Ceramics
Thumbnail image of Unearthed | 1970s and 1980s
Unearthed | 1970s and 1980s

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