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Springtime Reverie: A Fantastical Journey Through the Season
Featured in the Craft Ontario Queen Shop from April 11 - May 11, 2025, Jeannie Pappas' ceramic micro worlds invite viewers in to dwell!
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Pappas' creatures are at once surreal and deeply human. Each one has a life of its own, made up of toothy smiles and subtle gestures, with gritty personalities, painted in a palette of pastel hues. Her work is incredibly personal, yet reassuringly universal. Her process relies on a solitary relationship between artist and material; in each pinch of clay, stroke of paint, she infuses the works - consciously and subconsciously - with her personal feelings and experiences. Continue reading below for Pappas' extended artist statement on Springtime Reverie.
"My ceramic creatures emerge from the collision of memory and imagination - where the strange becomes familiar and the familiar becomes deliciously odd. Those toothy grins and lanky limbs? They're love letters to all the wonderfully imperfect things that shaped me: the stitched-together puppets of Sid & Marty Krofft’s Whimsy charactors of H.R. Pufnstuf, the tactile, frame by frame magic of artists like Rankin/Bass and the surreal stop-motion worlds of Jan Švankmajer where socks developed souls and meatloaf could break your heart.
My work has evolved into richer three-dimensional narratives, with bolder colors that heighten the emotional impact of each piece. Where my earlier creations hinted at stories, my current sculptures fully inhabit their worlds - every angle revealing new details, every glaze choice amplifying their personalities. A single figure can now convey entire histories through the curve of a spine or the particular wear on a ceramic cape.
My creatures never exist in isolation. They sprout flower hats, grow root-like limbs, and bear celestial patterns—each element carefully considered to enhance their otherworldly character. Some figures seem to be emerging from the earth itself, caught between worlds like characters in a dark fairy tale.
The glass domes many inhabit serve as both protection and poetic framing. Like Victorian curiosity cabinets or forgotten snow globes, they create miniature theaters where my characters exist in suspended animation - preserved yet paradoxically ephemeral. There's a tension in these displays: the ceramic is permanent, but the figures feel like they might scurry away if released. This duality fascinates me - how we simultaneously crave preservation and fear entrapment.
My process embraces happy accidents. Working entirely by hand, I use pinching methods that preserve every fingerprint and minimize tools, celebrating the organic touch. Underglazes and rutile washes lend depth and luminosity, their unpredictable interactions imbuing each piece with unique vitality—these alchemical reactions become part of the sculpture’s story. I apply glazes to wet clay, allowing them to bleed and blend into dreamy, weathered textures. Soft flocking adds tactile contrast, evoking grassy fields or the delicate transience of spring blossoms.
Naming completes each piece's personality. Titles like "A Token of Good Fortune from the Shyest Hare " or "When the Earth Still Remembered Magic" are hints at backstories, while more ambiguous names like “A Thousand Little Blues for Things Unsaid", invite viewers to project their own narratives. This interplay between my intention and their interpretation creates the magic - when someone leans close to a dome and swears they saw a sculpture blink.
At its core, my work celebrates the beauty of imperfection - the cracks where light gets in, the wonky details that prove something was made by human hands. When one of my creatures makes you both smile and shiver, when it sparks that flicker of déjà vu... that's when I know I've captured something true."
Make sure to visit the Craft Ontario Queen Shop between April 11 - May 11, 2025 to see Jeannie Pappas' Springtime Reverie!