From ceramics and wool fibers, Nicole McLaughlin (earlier) evokes striking connections between materials, heritage and personal experiences. She draws on the rich traditions of historically domestic crafts to rethink their role today, merging ceramics and textiles into elegant, cascading wall sculptures.
Drawing on crafts such as pottery and weaving, McLaughlin deconstructs preconceptions of form and function, emphasizing media, techniques and themes through the unexpected combination of stoneware and fiber. Her works encourage us to think critically about the relationships between tenderness and strength or between past and present.
Many of the pieces shown here are from McLaughlin’s ongoing works Indigo series, which explores the history of the Mayan pigment and its connection to the continuity of life cycles, history and culture. Streams of wool fibers flow from central openings in glazed ceramic spheres, referencing the life-giving flow of water as paralleling fertility and maternal care.
McLaughlin gave birth to a daughter in early 2024, which dramatically changed the way she viewed her studio practice. The work in her most recent exhibition, Cord of life at Anderson Yezerski Gallery, combines personal experiences and her Mexican cultural heritage, delving into themes of life and the transformative journey of motherhood.
“The transformation of organic material reflects the transformative nature of motherhood,” McLaughlin said in a statement for the show. “The color range covers an intense emotional spectrum – from the vitality of birth to the softer, more intimate moments.”
For McLaughlin, cochineal has a similar meaning. The brilliant magenta hue comes from carmine dye, also known as cochinealwhich comes from crushing an insect of the same name. The color plays a crucial role in America’s indigenous material culture and heritage.
To the Aztecs and Mayans, red was symbolic of the gods, the sun, and blood, and the dye was traded throughout Central and South America for use in rituals, for the production of pigments for manuscripts and murals, and for dyeing fabrics and feathers.
“During the Mayan Empire, indigo was combined with clay and frankincense to create a pigment known as Mayan blue,” she says. “The pigment was said to hold the healing power of water in the agricultural community.”
McLaughlin’s work is in the group exhibition OBJECTIVES: USA 2024 bee R & Company in New York, which continues until tomorrow. The artist is currently taking a short break from the studio while working on a solo exhibition Adamah ceramics in Columbus, Ohio, opening this fall. See more about her websiteand follow up on updates Instagram.
