In the galleries:
Lisa Battle
“Transcend” by Lisa Battle
“Solid yet open — often literally — Lisa Battle’s ceramic sculptures evoke apertures both physical and abstract. The largest piece in “Portals & Passages,” the artist’s Studio Gallery show, consists of 21 bars of fired clay in varying lengths, rippled like little frozen waves. Each segment is self-contained, but they’re arranged in a ring so they define a sort of window. Although there’s nothing visible on the white wall within the circle, the seemingly heavy ceramic elements outline an area of lightness and symbolic possibility.
Not all the show’s smaller pieces contain openings, but many do. Holes, slits and clefts are common, surrounded by clay inscribed with organic patterns. The elegant “Radiance,” for example, suggests a slice of a large mushroom. Battle encourages such interpretations with finishes in earthy or metallic browns, tans and greens; these hues are mottled by the effects of wood-fired kiln, adding another natural aspect to the creations. The sculptures can be seen as representing “the transition from one stage of life to another,” according to Battle’s statement, but they’re grounded in eternal qualities of earth and fire.”
Review by Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, April 2023. Thank you!
Portals and Passages runs through April 22 at Studio Gallery. studiogallerydc.com.