Installation 1-183

This extended line of 183 ceramic columns plays against the topography of the landscape. The tops of each pillar, which range in height from several inches to several feet, form a level line to highlight the dips and rises of the rolling hillside. The pillars are hand built out of locally mined Piedmont clay and fired in a wood kiln at the artist’s studio in Seagrove. Pushing the conventional boundaries of craft and pottery, North Carolina native Daniel Johnston has expanded his practice into large-scale installations that transform familiar forms into unexpected and awe-inspiring experiences for the viewer. This determined line of columns, marching across the meadow, reveals questions of walls, borders, and boundaries and of how we move through the world, both literally and metaphorically.