Bio:
Judi Tavill is a ceramic artist with a studio based on the oceanic shore of New Jersey. Born in 1968 in Baltimore, MD, she received her BFA in Fashion Design from the Washington University in Saint Louis in 1990. Tavill achieved swift success as a fashion and textile print designer prior to the birth of her children. She left her career in fashion to pursue her art interests in 2002 and after delving into various mediums, she found clay in 2003. Tavill pursued ceramics with a voracious appetite, beginning at a local craft center and attending a great variety of craft school intensives in the following years. Her current studio practice is very process driven, involving tasks of repetition and contemplation that serve as a working meditation. Outside of her studio practice, Tavill enjoys frequent travel with her husband and family and finds that is reinvigorates and inspires her work. She has taught locally and volunteers in her community as well as by teaching ceramic skills to autistic adults at OasisTLC, a therapeutic life center.
​
insta: @jtceramics
Judi Tavill
The Bright Shiny Object - SOLD
Wheel thrown and altered stoneware with porcelain slip and clear glaze detail (gold luster on single piece) Cone 6 oxidation
2017
$700 as unit
$60 individually
A portion of the sale price will go to the ACLU
Statement:
The “bright shiny object” is defined as (figuratively) “Something that attracts a great deal of attention because of its superficial characteristics.” I believe this “syndrome” has and is taking over our society at an increasingly progressive pace. We see it’s affects through social media, through individual attention spans, through value placed on the items or people that “shine” the most, and we are seeing it in the art world. We very recently saw it ‘s effects on our presidential candidate party races and ultimately the election of our president. Further, our president seems to USE the way our culture reacts to the “bright shiny object” by throwing out “bright shiny” tweets to distract and evade.
There is both a figurative effect and a tangible effect of this “bright shiny object”. I have previously worked with bright and shiny lusters relatively sparingly in my work as I am aware of the effect that is has on the eye. My current work has a tendency toward the serene and the textural, the natural and the flowing. When I add a “touch of gold”, I am very much aware that it will attract the eye, for better or worse. In this sculptural piece, the one simple, smooth, gold form very quickly attracts the eye away from the “other” eleven rather calm, yet interesting and detailed other forms, causing one to ignore their beauty, value and relevance. This represents what I feel is causing a great deal of individuals in our society to experience as the “bright shiny objects” are popping up all around us, continuously. Potentially, the visual directness of this piece can translate into a greater awareness for individuals in our society that are amazing and intricate and detailed and quiet and unique and special and beautiful but not necessarily superficially “bright and shiny”.