David Riley Peterson

Amphora

Clay, chain, resin, mixed media

14 × 9 x 5 inches

2024

$5,500

“This piece is an imagined replica of one of the many thousands of ancient shipwrecks dotting the treacherous coastline of the Greek Isles. I was drawn to create this sculpture almost entirely out of ceramic stoneware as I was thinking about the countless sunken merchant vessels and their cargo along the Mediterranean Sea floor. As a trained potter and ceramic artist, the once ubiquitous clay amphora is of particular interest to me. The amphora was once the most practical storage method for transporting things like wine, olive oil and preserved fruits and meats. Today the amphora is a novel item primarily relegated to frivolous home decor and yet it is one of the first things you learn how to create when you begin studying ceramic art. I have made a few shipwreck sculptures over the last decade, but this one in particular was a nod to my own past as a potter who started out making utilitarian vessels. ‘Amphora’ is a sculpture that has brought my career into full circle.”

- David Riley Peterson