Peter Voulkos stands as a towering figure in the world of contemporary ceramics, an artist who fundamentally reshaped the landscape of the medium. After nearly a decade immersed in metal sculpture, Voulkos dramatically returned to ceramics in 1972, reigniting a creative fire that had already revolutionized the field once before. In the mid-1950s, Peter Voulkos had boldly injected the energy and experimental techniques of contemporary painting and sculpture into clay, challenging traditional boundaries and perceptions of ceramic art.
Upon his return to clay, Peter Voulkos channeled his innovative spirit into two primary forms: the towering, sculptural “stack pots,” and expansive stoneware platters. His initial forays into platter-like shapes dated back to the late 1950s and early 1960s, a period of intense experimentation where he fearlessly slashed, gouged, pinched, tore, and reconstructed these archetypal forms. These earlier platters were often characterized by spontaneous applications of vibrant slips or epoxy paints across their dynamically altered surfaces. However, the new series of platters that Peter Voulkos embarked on in the 1970s marked a distinct departure.
During 1973 and 1974, Peter Voulkos engaged in a unique project, producing a limited edition of two hundred decorated earthenware plates for a multiples initiative curated by Lee Nordness. While an assistant expertly wheel-threw these uniformly shaped discs, the decoration was entirely the work of Voulkos himself. His process often began with incisive knife strokes across the still-malleable clay surface. Then, with forceful pressure from his thumbs on the underside, he created dramatic eruptions, or “pass-throughs,” on the hardening face of the plate. Peter Voulkos frequently pushed through the ceramic body entirely, tearing away fragments of clay and leaving behind ragged, open holes. To introduce contrasting textures and tones, he would often fill smaller holes and pass-throughs with smooth, white porcelain lumps or balls. Critically, by intentionally leaving gaping perforations in the concave surface, Peter Voulkos consciously incorporated light and space as integral elements within the aesthetic composition of these pieces.
By 1976, the platter form had become a central focus in Peter Voulkos’s artistic exploration, exemplified by works like Untitled [1993.54.21]. He began throwing the plates himself, imbuing them with a more pronounced sculptural quality by varying the thickness of their rims. Peter Voulkos conceived of the circular platter format as a substantial, three-dimensional plane, a canvas upon which he could merge his ongoing fascination with both abstract expressionist drawing and sculpture. Indeed, Peter Voulkos often exhibited these circular works as “plate drawings,” emphasizing the drawn and painterly quality of their surfaces. Each manipulated surface evokes a sense of landscape, a unique spatial configuration, or a personal mapping of space.
In contrast to the aggressively manipulated platter forms of the late 1950s, the uniform discs of the 1970s reveal a more refined and reductive aesthetic approach in Peter Voulkos’s work. Each platter became a variation on a fundamental theme, with sgraffito markings and surface perforations employed with relative restraint, often kept to a minimum. Furthermore, diverging from his earlier slip-decorated platters, this later series adopted an essentially monochromatic palette. Largely uncolored, the platters retained the natural cream-to-brick tonality of the earthenware. Surface incisions and pass-throughs were subtly enhanced with oxide washes for shading, and the plates were then finished with a thin, transparent glaze. Although fired in a gas kiln, their inherent coloration lent them the visual characteristics of traditional Japanese wood-fired ceramics. Peter Voulkos continued to explore the platter form, and after 1978, they evolved into larger, more sculptural pieces, displaying greater diversity in color and tone, further solidifying his legacy as a ceramic innovator.
Peter Voulkos, born to Greek parents in Montana, navigated his early life through hard work, even hitchhiking to Oregon to apprentice in an iron foundry before military service. Post-war, he pursued painting and printing before finding his true calling in ceramics. Encounters with abstract expressionists like Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline in 1953 profoundly impacted Peter Voulkos, inspiring him to imbue his ceramic work with similar scale and power. His relentless exploration pushed the boundaries of clay sculpture, eventually leading him to bronze to achieve even larger, spatially dynamic forms. Drawing inspiration from diverse sources ranging from Zen philosophy to Spanish guitar, and even the Egyptian pyramids, Peter Voulkos’s life and art were marked by both intense creativity and personal challenges. Despite struggles with substance abuse, Peter Voulkos remained a highly respected figure in the post-war art world, celebrated for his groundbreaking contributions to both ceramic and cast metal sculpture.
