Projects
Daniel Cavey has worked on a number of ceramic projects during his long career as a ceramic artist, choosing to showcase his Maryland Stoneware Vessels, Sculpture work and current Blue-Footed Series of sculptural and functional vessels here.
Blue Footed Series
Cavey’s ceramics belonging to the Blue-footed series are a creative exploration of evolutionary biology combined with the notion of functional contemporary pottery. Inspired by the animalistic qualities found in Pre-Colombian Central and South American ceramics, it is Cavey’s intention to represent certain evolutionary processes, such as the development of appendages in consideration of function, whilst meeting the demands of the utilitarian vessel.
Sus Scrofa Majori Tondo, 31½ in. (80 cm) in diameter | 2009.
Sculpture
In his sculpture work, Daniel Cavey focuses on the consequences of human action upon the current biosphere. Through the study and evaluation of other species and their functions as populations within specific ecological niches, Cavey makes analogies between animals and humans in order to identify and present the impact of our ever-expanding global population.
The evolutionary history and natural adaptations of particular species heavily influences the artist’s choice of imagery. And his often-acrimonious expressions underline the effects of a continuously widening gap between humanity and the natural world, where the former’s foundations lie. Balancing these elements and executing his expressions with technical acumen, Cavey explores irony, tension, and despair, eliciting emotions and provoking serious thought about imperative issues. Such responses may be uncomfortable but are also necessary components of change in the individual and social consciousness. Thought and emotion establish ethical guidelines for action, which the artist feels it is our responsibility, as the dominant species on earth, to self-impose.
