Dennise Gackstetter

American, b. 1961

Untitled
1998

Earthenware and terra sigillata
19.5 x 27.75 x 21.75 in.
Museum Purchase with the Charter Member Endowment Fund
1998.52

Dennise Gackstetter’s three-piece sculpture is a part of her 1998 MFA work at Utah State University with John Neely and is loosely based on the idea of cairns—stone structures as landmarks and memorials of solitude. Each piece has a very narrow window in its angular side. The red earthenware clay and mellow stonelike surface are coated in lavender terra sigillata and stains, giving the feeling that the surface has been handled so much that it is worn smooth. (Terra sigillata, meaning “sealed earth,” is a very smooth coating of clay that resembles a glaze and is virtually waterproof.) Gackstetter is primarily a ceramic sculptor and handbuilder, though she does also work on the wheel.

Dennise Gackstetter received her BA in art education from the University of Wisconsin, an MA in ceramics at Northern Arizona University, and an MFA in ceramics/sculpture from USU in 1998. She has lived a migratory life. Her wanderings have taken her to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, where she was an arts lecturer; to Huntington, Pennsylvania; to the Penland School of Crafts, North Carolina, where she was ceramics coordinator; and to the Miyagi Guakuin Women's College in Sendai, Japan, to be an instructor of English.

Billie Sessions, PhD.

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This object has the following keywords:

• lavender
• purple

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

• Unearthed , 8/23/2022 - 5/14/2023

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