March 16, 2023 - October 30, 2023
PLATEFUL CONNECTIONS - Elizabeth Hamilton, Sammy Kovnat (SKOVeS) & Han Wang
PLATEFUL CONNECTIONS features artwork by three Philadelphia-area artists—Elizabeth Hamilton, Sammy Kovnat (SKOVeS), and Han Wang, who utilize manufactured plates as their canvas and source of materials. Beyond those commonalities, the creative outcomes are vastly different. From painting on disposable tableware to using porcelain dishes, each artist uniquely incorporates plates into their visual arts practice.
Elizabeth Hamilton
Elizabeth Hamilton has created hand painted reproductions of selected porcelain plates from the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s European Decorative Arts collection onto commonplace paper plates. Hamilton says that the “floral dinnerware always attracted me, reminding me of a small collection of dessert plates my grandmother owned.” By meticulously rendering museum porcelain plate designs on paper plates, Hamilton has created one-of-a-kind plates that are no longer everyday disposable objects.
Sammy Kovnatis (SKOVeS)
Sammy Kovnat says, “The act of breaking plates and reconstructing them back into something similar, familiar, yet different, is a fundamental part of my approach to mosaic and also my approach to self-healing.” Working with mosaic for eight years, has mirrored their own life, they too were feeling broken. Shards of the original plates remain prominent, “while taking on new floral shapes,” there is evidence of renewal and growth once again.
Han Wang
Han Wang describes her inspiration as “combining and utilizing traditional and contemporary ceramic techniques to explore the history of Eastern and Western cultures.” In this series, Wang’s canvases are found plates that she has painted and collaged using imagery sourced from American and Asian cultures. Then, the plates are purposefully broken and pieced back together using lacquer and gold leaf in a manner that emulates the Japanese artform kintsugi.
Elizabeth Hamilton - http://www.elizabethmhamilton.com/index.html
Han Wang- www.hanwang.me
Sammy Kovnatis (SKOVeS)- www.skovesart.com