The Potter's Field
Persis Wade
Area: Ceramics
Persis Wade
Thesis Statement
The term potter’s field derives from a Biblical reference.
“Judas threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, ‘It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.’ And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in.” - Matthew 27:5-7, KJV
After potters would dig up and collect their clay, the fields would become useless for farming so they were repurposed to bury the dead. The potter’s field would then become a mass burial ground for the unknown, the forgotten, the outcasts, and the undesirable. It became the very place Judas was layed.
Too often we disregard the reality of our temporary existence in this world. In contemplation of mortality, I have constructed tombstones in celebration and remembrance of life and the beauty of human creation. Encouraged by the Resurrection of Christ, death is not filled with darkness but is overcome by eternal light. These monuments are made to give hope to both those that have died and those they leave behind who have experienced the loss of a loved one. The ambiguous markings on the tombstones allow for them to act as anyone’s tombstone, including those that have been forgotten and those that are cherished. With my natural intuitive impulsive touch in clay, I have embedded my print in these forms to exaggerate the vivacity of existence. I use color and texture to express life in contrast to the gray tombstones typically found in cemeteries that are lifeless.