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Laurie Spencer American (Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1958 - ) active Tulsa, Oklahoma View objects by this artist.

Laurie Spencer's work has been exhibited internationally and featured in several books and magazines. She received her M.A. in Ceramics from the University of Tulsa. Laurie is best known for her organic, whistling sculptures and large scale ceramic domes, which are built and fired on site. The largest of these is the Calyx Dome, an 18 foot tall fired ceramic dome. Most recently she gave a workshop and built a fire sculpture at the International Ceramics Festival in Wales. She currently teaches ceramics at Holland Hall School in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

(http://www.internationalceramicsfestival.org/2007/guestartists/LaurieSpencer.htm   4-17-08)
Artist Statement:

In my ceramic sculptures, my work originally evolved around the exploration of whistling sculptures. I created organic plant-like forms with whistles incorporated into the design. As my whistles became larger, the sounds became deeper and harder to hear. I noticed that small rooms would enhance the sounds of the whistles. Eventually I began to think about the space around the whistles and how it could be defined.

I began to make small coiled rooms that were nest-like. As are most of my works, the designs were inspired by forms in nature. The coiled design was based on a mud dauber wasp’s coiled clay nest. Although the original domes were created to enhance the sounds of the whistles, I realized that the human voice was even more interesting inside the dome. Certain pitches, which are easier to find by voice, resonate, vibrating inside one’s body. While I explored various ideas of how to make them permanent, I finally decided that they would have to be built and fired on site. Secluded wooded areas became the preferred location. The domes were fired over a few days with wood in a fiber kiln built and suspended around the dome somewhat like a tent.

Over the years, I have continued to build domes ranging in height from 4’ to 18’. Each firing has been a learning experience and has led to variations in subsequent firings. The domes became interesting to me as forms of their own rather than an extension of the whistles. As the mud dauber’s nest houses the pupa that is going through metamorphose, I see the domes as a symbolic place to recharge the soul; a peaceful place of solitude and contemplation. The vibrations of one’s own voice is soothing and enveloping like a warm blanket.



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