Transforming Quotidian Objects
By Kim Carpenter
Jess Benjamin, Thistle Heads, 2004, darkRoom gallery, Omaha, Ne. Photograph, Don Doll, S.J.
Jess Benjamin grew up on a cattle ranch in Cozad, Nebraska surrounded by prairie weeds, hay bales and miles upon miles of fencing. The 22 ceramic sculptures, all created during the past two years, were rooted in those vast plains, with the harsh rural landscape serving as her visual stimulus. Only the second woman to work as assistant to ceramist Jun Kaneko, Benjamin began as a potter, and her sculptures have an earthenware feel. She is gifted at producing large-scale works, such as water pipes and hay bales, as well as smaller, more intimately detailed pieces. Benjamin fired most of the sculptures five or six times and embellished them by scoring deep into the surfaces or adding slips of color until she achieved her desired effect. Various glazing techniques also allowed Benjamin to realize both a precision in patterns and a randomness of textures like those found on her family’s ranch.
Fourteen thistles, all simply titled Thistle Ball, comprised the bulk of the show. Similar to dandelions, thistles pervade Nebraska’s pastures, and Benjamin spent her childhood and adolescence spraying against the weeds. Her preoccupation with producing a series of ceramic thistles ironically complimented her earlier efforts to eradicate them. The ten small pieces, about nine inches in diameter and 12 inches in height, featured more variation than the larger-scale thistles. For as soft as these sculptures initially appeared, the circular forms were sharply angular. Spiky, lance-shaped leaves spiraled around the loosely shaped, gently mottled heads like fist-clenched fingers. Benjamin added funnel-like tunnels veined with greens and blues to several pieces, allowing viewers to peer into the weedy interiors. A purplish tongue licked through one, making the prickly leaves seem like jagged teeth. The impossibly large Thistle Ball, over two feet in diameter and close to three feet tall, brought the weed’s serrated edges into even sharper, more exaggerated focus. At 400 pounds, this thistle was a witty reminder of the miniature weed’s wide-reaching power over the prairie. Five fence posts, just over four feet in height, anchored the show, corralling the other pieces tightly in place according to cattle ranch standards. Here, Benjamin’s articulation evolved from realistic representations to more fanciful renderings. The first Post was faithfully reproduced, precisely straight and scored with whorls resembling tree rings. In contrast, the final Post was slightly off-kilter. Glazed purple over green, this piece was Benjamin’s cartoon conceptualization of a Nebraska cattle enclosure. Similarly, the three-foot-long Culvert was beige inside and glazed blue on top, making the water appear to flow over the drainage conduit instead of through it. The deeply textured Hay Bale, approximately three feet tall and four feet wide, was luminous black instead of the expected gold of freshly mown hay. Through each sculpture, Benjamin reinterpreted different aspects of a Midwest cattle ranch and succeeded in transforming quotidian farm objects into iconic clay sculptures. And she finally conquered the thistles that dominated her earlier life – – if only by serially reproducing and reconfiguring them.
