Warrior, ceramic vessel, Moche culture, Peru

Another fascinating episode from the BBC/British Museum History of the World in 100 Objects series today on WNYC radio: Moche Warrior Pot —fascinating being defined as connecting to the images and art that have informed my work.

Moche vessels

The Moche were a large, complex civilization in Peru 100-800 ad (pre-Inca), which had established cities with architecture and facilities that the Romans would have been envious of (according to the radio episode). Hearing they’d be talking about a Moche object my ears perked up. Moche masks have inspired faces I paint, and their ceramic portrait vessels, with spouts coming out of the tops of people’s heads, were some of the first objects I imitated, way back in High School ceramics class. In the BBC episode they spoke to a contemporary potter who analyzed the warrior pot and said they made hundreds and hundreds of these types of vessels, combining the use of molds and hand-building to mass produce them but give them individual qualities. Continue reading →