Throughout its history, a prominent Tennessee artist’s original work of art has been presented to each recipient of a Governor’s Arts Award. This year’s award was created by Tina Curry of Knoxville, Tennessee, a sculptor who has worked with wheel throwing and hand-built clay techniques for over 25 years.
All three grand divisions of Tennessee have their style of music, and this award design is symbolic of the music of Tennessee. The distinct coloration of the glazes is an abstraction of the Smoky Mountains. Inspired by gourd rattles, small clay balls were incorporated inside each piece to make it a working rattle. The rattle element allows the whimsical art piece to be heard and seen.
Curry’s initial ideas were sketched out to create the art piece. Including all the pieces and parts that comprised them – knowing that it would be hand-built from clay. Templates had to be made regarding size and accommodate shrinkage that happens after firing in the kiln. All the individual pieces were made in parts. Once the first design was put together in clay, the design was altered a few times before a final product was decided upon. Getting the coloration of the piece consistent required a lot of test glazes and firing tests to figure out how to fire the piece. Experimenting and ultimately finalizing a workflow process was necessary to create many similar awards.
Recognized primarily for her hand-built clay animal sculptures (especially equine), Curry creates her own distinctive style by using alternative firing techniques such as horsehair, saggar, raku, and pit and barrel firing. She has shared her knowledge by participating as a mentor with the Community School of the Arts Side by Side program.
