Diana Gillispie’s recent direction is the soul of simplicity
Longtime Asheville resident Diana Gillispie has been a professional creator of functional pottery since the late 1970s. For much of her career she was known for her handmade Arts and Crafts-style decorative tiles; these popular pieces featured high-relief historic- and nature-inspired motifs in the genre’s traditional muted ochres and emeralds. But starting in 2016, amid increasingly noisy geopolitical rhetoric, Gillispie craved more quietude — and that desire manifested itself via a distinct shift in her aesthetic expression.
The transition was seeded earlier, though. Gillispie’s embrace of a more serene aesthetic can be traced back to her undergraduate emphasis on Japanese ceramics — and what she observes as their “lyricism and grace.” (Gillispie studied at the Kansas City Art Institute, known for its robust ceramics program, and then earned a Masters in Sculpture at the Rhode Island School of Design.)
When her son moved to China in 2015 to teach English, Gillispie’s travels to Asia — including Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam — deepened her exposure to those countries’ pottery styles and techniques. She also draws inspiration from the massive sculptures titled “Torqued Ellipses” that were created by American postminimalist Richard Serra, who died earlier this year at age 85. Serra’s site-specific outdoor installations resemble split teacups or unspooled ribbons: metal undulations in black and rust that dwarf all human scale.
“I like to explore techniques that are less familiar to me, and I enjoy the challenge of learning how to get [new methods] right so they ‘sing,’” says Gillispie. “To me, if it doesn’t sing, it’s boring.”
Indeed, Gillispie’s minimalist creations — slab-made and wheel-thrown vessels that are typically matte black or a glossy eggshell shade — do exude soul, through a timeless gravitas of organic simplicity that can be interpreted as both classic and modern. Her folded bowls and cups, with their casual lapped edges, are the essence of artisanal sophistication. Her sushi tray and dipping bowl are like strokes of calligraphy.
But the complex realm of ceramics science is anything but simple, so achieving a minimalist look can potentially be more painstaking than making a colorful, visually active design. As Gillispie acknowledges, having successfully executed both types of work, “You can hide behind a lot of whimsy and trickiness, but in many ways, it’s harder to capture the attention of the viewer through something very simple versus decorated.”
Diana Gillispie will participate in the Kenilworth Artists Association Studio Tour on Saturday, Oct. 5 and Sunday, Oct. 6, 10am-5pm. See kenilworthartists.org for a tour map and for more information. Gillispie’s work is regularly exhibited at Odyssey Gallery of Ceramic Arts (236 Clingman Ave. in the River Arts District, odysseygalleryofceramicarts.com) and at her home studio by appointment, 828-768-9050 and dianagillispie@gmail.com. Her tiles are exhibited at Woolworth Walk (25 Haywood St. in downtown Asheville, woolworthwalk.com) and at the Southern Highland Craft Guild’s Folk Art Center (Mile Marker 382 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, southernhighlandguild.org). For more information about the artist, see dianagillispiepottery.com.