Ceramics had a far-reaching impact in the second half of the twentieth century, as its artists worked through the same ideas regarding abstraction and form as those for other creative mediums. Live Form shines new light on the relation of ceramics to the artistic avant-garde by looking at the central role of women in the field: potters who popularized ceramics as they worked with or taught male counterparts like John Cage, Peter Voulkos, and Ken Price. Sorkin focuses on three Americans who promoted ceramics as an advanced artistic medium: Marguerite Wildenhain, a Bauhaus-trained potter and writer; Mary Caroline (M. C.) Richards, who renounced formalism at Black Mountain College to pursue new performative methods; and Susan Peterson, best known for her live throwing demonstrations on public television. Together, these women pioneered a hands-on teaching style and led educational and therapeutic activities for war veterans, students, the elderly, and many others. Far from being an isolated field, ceramics offered a sense of community and social engagement, which, Sorkin argues, crucially set the stage for later participatory forms of art and feminist collectivism.

Acclaimed potter Mary Fox, known for creating stunning gravity-defying decorative vessels as well as contemporary functional ware, tells the story of her life as an artist.

The history of the emergence of pottery figures in Pueblo art and the cultural significance of these creations.

The finest history of pottery available, this book offers an inspirational journey through one of the oldest and most widespread of human activities.

This pottery instruction book uses an entirely unique approach. It shows how any craftsperson can develop both as an alert and creative human being and as a competent technician in his or her field. It provides basic technical information about processes and materials, and contains examples of pottery chosen not only for artistic qualities but also as expressions of ancient and contemporary cultures. Although directed primarily to potters, this book is of interest to students and teachers in any field of arts or crafts. It is not only technically instructive but also highly inspirational for human and creative development. Includes numerous photographs by famed photo journalist Otto Hagel of Wildehain, her students and works they produced at Wildehain's Pond Farm studio and school in Guerneville, Calif.

Fifth in Kodansha's award-winning series on American craftspersons. Warren MacKenzie has spent his life working in a wide-ranging folkcraft tradition that draws inspiration from the great potter Bernard Leach in Britain and the mingei movement of postwar Japan.