“While my work refers to the past, I seek, if possible, to make objects that are deeper than the pop of pattern and color,” said Marlboro ceramics professor Martina Lantin. Her colorful work and words were featured in the February 2014 issue of Ceramics Monthly, in an article titled “Adding to the Story.” Author Katey Shultz describes Martina’s work evolving from a confluence of ideas about function, ornament, and technology to tell a story, a narrative Martina calls “nostalgia of the future.”
The Ceramics Monthly article is enlivened by many of Martina’s recent works. These include glowing earthenware plates and vases veiled in white slip, reflecting a practice in Baroque Europe that attempted to imitate porcelain from the Near East. Many of her works, such as Family Dinner, Rear Wall, and Installation of Plates present arrangements of ceramic plates that evoke a mode or invite viewers to interact with the composition. “At a certain point, all of my work aspires to be an object of reflection and reaction,” said Martina, who will show new work this year in “Art of the Pot,” in Austin, Texas.
