Morgan McCarver
Artist Statement
My work draws inspiration from the classics I’ve read set in the American Colonial and Early Victorian eras. These texts allow me to glimpse the feminine spirit where women are expected to follow societal constraints. Women must use what power they have to make lives for themselves. This power can be found in the way the women dress and carry themselves.
Custom designed decals are cut and overlapped, like a seamstress handling fabric, dressing the smooth, slip-cast surfaces with imagery and pattern. The surface design process is manipulated to allow the imagery to appear as antiquated as the settings of these books. Scenes and patterns also repeat themselves across the porcelain forms, replicating the Toile du Jouy fabric that was popular especially during the American Colonial era. Feminine fashion is also sculpturally reimagined, replacing soft, delicate fabrics with glazed porcelain to protect the wearer from societal attacks.
Hexagons embody the desire of these cultures to control the organic. The hexagon verges on circular, but still upholds rigid angles. Similarly, the organic female silhouette adapts to cultural beauty standards through rigid stays and corsetry. Tea gatherings became social events in these two time periods. My slip cast porcelain, inspired by Wedgewood and La Cartuja de Sevilla, captures the elegance of ladies’ tea parties. The cup forms I design and cast are inspired by the architecture and cultures of these ages as well.
McCarver Bio
Morgan was born and raised in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Some of her fondest memories are of learning how to sew and model clay from her grandmothers. She loved to help sew historical costume dresses for herself and her dolls. Learning these skills through the tradition of passing on teaching through the generations has carried through her life and inspired her work. She received an art degree with a ceramics concentration and a double minor in art history and business in 2019 from Anderson University in Anderson, SC. Morgan had the honor of receiving the 2019 Outstanding Art Major Ceramics Award her senior year. She currently is producing work, exploring new styles, techniques and themes. Her art can be found in various galleries including The Kindred Spirits and Spruce Interiors in Spartanburg, SC.
My work draws inspiration from the classics I’ve read set in the American Colonial and Early Victorian eras. These texts allow me to glimpse the feminine spirit where women are expected to follow societal constraints. Women must use what power they have to make lives for themselves. This power can be found in the way the women dress and carry themselves.
Custom designed decals are cut and overlapped, like a seamstress handling fabric, dressing the smooth, slip-cast surfaces with imagery and pattern. The surface design process is manipulated to allow the imagery to appear as antiquated as the settings of these books. Scenes and patterns also repeat themselves across the porcelain forms, replicating the Toile du Jouy fabric that was popular especially during the American Colonial era. Feminine fashion is also sculpturally reimagined, replacing soft, delicate fabrics with glazed porcelain to protect the wearer from societal attacks.
Hexagons embody the desire of these cultures to control the organic. The hexagon verges on circular, but still upholds rigid angles. Similarly, the organic female silhouette adapts to cultural beauty standards through rigid stays and corsetry. Tea gatherings became social events in these two time periods. My slip cast porcelain, inspired by Wedgewood and La Cartuja de Sevilla, captures the elegance of ladies’ tea parties. The cup forms I design and cast are inspired by the architecture and cultures of these ages as well.
McCarver Bio
Morgan was born and raised in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Some of her fondest memories are of learning how to sew and model clay from her grandmothers. She loved to help sew historical costume dresses for herself and her dolls. Learning these skills through the tradition of passing on teaching through the generations has carried through her life and inspired her work. She received an art degree with a ceramics concentration and a double minor in art history and business in 2019 from Anderson University in Anderson, SC. Morgan had the honor of receiving the 2019 Outstanding Art Major Ceramics Award her senior year. She currently is producing work, exploring new styles, techniques and themes. Her art can be found in various galleries including The Kindred Spirits and Spruce Interiors in Spartanburg, SC.