INAE Enterprises

I decided to make “a couple” small bottles for ceramic glaze testing. “A couple” became “a few” then became “many”. I originally called them 100 Bottles of Solitude but changed their title after completing over 200 with endless permutations still in my head. Ultimately, they have taken on a life of their own.

Selections from 1000 Bottles of Solitude

I consider the bottles three dimensional sketches and the entire series a sculptural journal. I particularly enjoy using random events (dropping, throwing or shooting) and domestic items from my daily life (spark plugs, forks, bones), as this allows me to distill that moment in time. Taken out of context and made permanent in high fired ceramic, they become compelling in ways I hadn’t planned, expressing the melancholy, whimsy, despair, absurdity or preciousness hidden within the mundane, the common and the every day.

And yes, I’ve read 100 Years of Solitude. I didn’t like the book, I do like the title.

“Solitude is unAmerican.” Erica Jong

Detail images of a few of the bottles:

Playing the Deaf Card

3h x 8w x 7d”.  Wood box found in dumpster; leather, hearing aids, dried lynx ears, tarot cards.

Playing the Deaf Card, detail

First Bell Helmet

Camouflage Hat

Life size and wearable.  Silk velvet, camouflage polar fleece, camouflage twill, lace, grouse wings, muskox fur.  Machine and hand sewn from self pattern.

Digital Hat

Life size and wearable.  Velvet, leather, cotton shirting with circuit board pattern, chicken wings, circuit board, electronic parts, beads and feathers.  Machine and hand sewn from self pattern.

Topography Hat

Life sized and wearable.  Silk velvet, hand painted silk with topography map pattern, arrow heads, camouflage silk mesh, silk mosquito net and hand made copper snaps.  Machine and hand sewn from self pattern.

“I myself have 12 hats, and each one represents a different personality.  Why just be yourself?” –Margaret Atwood