MARILEE HALL

 ARTIST’S STATEMENT

“My vessels and wall constructions are about unity, and how from disparate, contrasting elements spring life, growth and integration. I enjoy hand building, using white earthenware slabs, coils and extrusions to create forms. Contrasting textures are exceedingly important to me, as is combining and layering of polychrome under glazes and glazes to deepen surfaces. Of great interest to me are my sculptures and carved fetish forms, referring to the life-giving forces at work outside my window and inside myself. They are used as the focal point of some work, and as spirited additions and appendages in other pieces. The clay vessel itself has such history, moving, with mankind onward from the nomadic life to food-storing, community-building, and personal expression. Even at its most idiosyncratic, ceramic work continues to be fed by its long roots. I revel in the nourishment clay provides.”   

                                                                                             - Marilee Hall

Miss Hall received a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education from Georgia State University, Atlanta in 1973. Her works are in an endless chain of galleries across the United States and the world. A brief list includes: WAVE, New Haven, CT; ZYZYX, Bethesda, MD and Baltimore MD; Selo/Shevel, Ann Arbor, MI; SANSAR, Bethesda, MD; Quirk, Richmond, VA; Ornament Gallery; Seoul, Korea; The Olive Tree, Stone Harbor, NJ; Moon Tree Designs, Lake Placid, NY; Joe Wilcox Fine Arts; Sedona, AR; Laughing Dog Gallery; Vero Beach, FL; Others are in Santa Barbara; Kent, CT; Overland Pk, KS; Boulder, CO; Clayton, MO; Delray Beach, FL; Oak Park, IL; Nashville, TN; Omaha, NE.

Her Exhibitions also range from the American Craft Museum; New York, NY; Kentucky Museum of Craft and Design, Louisville, KY; to Kutani International Decorative Ceramics Fair, Komatsu, Ishikawa, Japan; to Year of American Craft Celebration, Tennessee State Museum, TN; and Barucci Gallery, Clayton. Space prohibits a complete listing.

Her works are in endless Public and Private Collections: across the continent and in other parts of the world.

She is a popular Juror in clay and design for Arts Festivals and is the recipient of many recent Distinctions. She was Featured Artist, in the Arts & Activities Magazine, May Issue, 1995; Several First Prizes at major Art Festivals; and numerous Best in Show Awards.

I am lucky enough to be offering on this sight two early Raku pieces of hers. They are almost identical in size: small bowls with semi-precious stones encircling the circumference of the top. They are truly elegant and are a product of the middle 1980's. From the same period you will see collaborative work with Richard Carlson. Carlson provided the unbelievably exacting vessels, with Miss Hall adding their extrusions and subtle decoration. They worked together in this way for some time. I have two of the finest examples available.

Miss Hall’s output is vast and she shows no sign of slowing down, or diminishing her constant growth in artistry and imagination. Her pieces represent so many, many forms and styles it is impossible to pigeon-hole her exact philosophies. One can only look from the past to the broad range of what she is producing at this time to see the veritable sea of imagination in her mind and hands. She is truly a virtuoso with a profound point always in mind.