"Resource Extractor Vase" (detail)

"Resource Extractor Vase"

(detail)

"Petroleum Pre-Occupation"

(deatil)

"National Obsession"

With the recent price of oil passing $150/barrel, the scarcity of oil has, at last, entered our national consciousness. Although it is polluting our air, heating our oceans, melting our icecaps, endangering our wildlife, convoluting our foreign policy and virtually destroying our planet, we find its convenience alluring and almost impossible not to utilize! Myself included.

Exporting the pace of our western culture seems to assure that humankind will be unable to resist using all but the last final drops of oil. Recently I explored a retired oil refinery which has been converted into a public park. Here I reflected on the future of our earth once we are finished burning oil. My work reflects the intricate machinery which will fall into disuse and ultimately become rusted shut. Nature has a way of shutting things down which are out of control.

Constructed entirely of clay, these pieces of art are totems and mementos of a time and industry which will soon have gone by. They also reflect the militaristic means needed to secure our interests and perceived requirements for energy derived from fossil fuel. The interiors are traditionally glazed and are water-tight, the exteriors are coated in an iron patina. After application, my work is placed in the Northwest rain for a few months which causes the authentic rust to form on their exterior surface.

- Randolph Silver

Refinery Vase - front

Refinery Vase - back

Refinery Vase -front

Refinery Vase - back