Julie Purich

Found - Porcelain casting slip, assorted glazes - Contact Gallery for Pricing

Artist's Statement

My focus of this body of work is a play on the known message-in-a-bottle concept. Using plaster molds and slip-casting techniques, I will create casts of varying sized bottles. These bottles will be formed using varying colored porcelain slip clay bodies and glazed with various Shino and Tenmoku glazes in order to give the bottles a weathered and aged appearance. The message in a bottle concept will be executed by imprinting sections of letters that I have received over the years by use of transfer paper.  I will be replicating my own handwriting as well as those of family and friends, anonymously. By using multiple forms of manipulation, I will deteriorate the exterior of the bottles, whilst still allowing for the messages to be seen. In order to display my work; I will have an interactive exhibit space where viewers can pick up and read the bottles. The bottles will be strategically organized in an aesthetically pleasing manner by height, color, and legibility on a large writing desk. I will incorporate a small wooden crate on top of the desk containing bottles as well. I have found writing and receiving letters with those significant in my life has become not only a pastime, but a vessel that forms stronger bonds and relationships throughout many years of my life.

Artist's Website

If you wish to purchase any of these pieces, please contact the gallery director, Jacqueline Nathan (jnathan@bgsu.edu.)