For more than three decades, David Ellsworth has turned wood vessels of sublime elegance. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Los Angeles County Museum, along with more than twenty other American museums, include Ellsworth pieces in their collections. His stature within the movement approaches legend.
Ellsworth’s pieces are valued for their purity of form. This commands attention. But for Ellsworth, the true vessel resides within, redolent with mystery. “As a maker, I find myself drawn to the privacy of the interior of these forms, for it is here that I discover the origin of their force …their spirit, their pulse …elements that engender the same qualities of mystery that one finds within oneself. “
Ellsworth works with green wood. The fresh, still-wet green wood is responsive, supple and self-expressive. When turning is complete, the vessel dries. Its walls, almost imperceptibly, bend and warp. This subtle effect lends an appearance of buoyancy enhanced by the vessel’s delicate walls.
The narrow opening of an Ellsworth vessel is his hallmark. With tools he developed, he excavates an interior he cannot see. It is done by feel, with intuition developed through years at the lathe. And it is done by sound. As the vessel turns on the lathe, it produces a tone. As the wall thins, the tone’s pitch rises. If the sound goes silent, the vessel will burst.
Acknowledged as an early innovator of methods and tools, Ellsworth is credited with elevating the status of turning to that of an art form. This quiet revolution at the heart of a burgeoning movement continues. |
