{"id":91782,"date":"2025-03-31T07:31:35","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T14:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=91782"},"modified":"2025-04-01T06:52:23","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T13:52:23","slug":"weightless-and-woven-the-poetic-ceramics-of-dara-hartman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/weightless-and-woven-the-poetic-ceramics-of-dara-hartman\/","title":{"rendered":"Weightless and Woven: The Poetic Ceramics of Dara Hartman"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dara Hartman, “Charm (Community Quilt),” 2025, mixed media, porcelain, metal hooks 48 x 72 in.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

When we think of ceramics, we often picture a thrown vessel, a hand-built sculpture or maybe even our favorite artisan coffee mug\u2014weighty, functional and tactile. But in Porcelain Threads<\/i>, Dara Hartman turns that notion inside out. Her solo exhibition at Modern West strips away any expectation of heaviness or utility. Instead, her ceramic work floats\u2014delicate, ethereal, and seemingly weightless.<\/h4>\n

On view both behind the welcome desk and throughout the upstairs gallery, Hartman\u2019s work reimagines the vessel in wholly unexpected ways. Constructed from porcelain\u2014a notoriously challenging material\u2014her pieces resemble textile works more than traditional ceramics. She calls them \u201cceramic quilts,\u201d and while that phrase may sound paradoxical at first, it begins to make perfect sense as you move through the exhibition.<\/h4>\n

Art takes time or, in some cases, it doesn\u2019t, depending on the intention. In Hartman’s work, time is essential. Her ceramic quilts appear to be the result of intense experimentation, hand built casts, and a process of remarkable precision. Each tile, each petal-like component, is carefully formed and glazed. There\u2019s not a blemish in sight, only the subtlest shifts in color, ivory to amber, cream to ochre, like light passing through paper thin fabric. These pieces demand close attention. Some are transparent enough to let light and shadow pass through. Others contain glazed negative spaces that invert our usual sense of inside and outside.<\/h4>\n
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\"Geometric

Dara Hartman, “Veil,” 2024, porcelain, paracord, metal hooks, nuts and bolts, magnets 49 x 120 x 1.5 in.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Behind the counter hangs “Veil,” a quiet showstopper. At first glance, it might seem minimal, but a closer look reveals layers of shifting yellow hues and repeating forms. There\u2019s something slow and meditative in this piece as it invites, even requires, a pause. It doesn\u2019t insist on itself. Instead, it waits to be discovered, much like the show as a whole.<\/h4>\n

Upstairs, a piece titled “Charm,” also known as “Community Quilt,” greets visitors with an expansive arrangement of 100 tiles, each one created in collaboration with a different Salt Lake City artist. This collective work spans ten tiles high by 19 across, measuring roughly four feet by six. The diversity of materials and voices speaks not only to Hartman\u2019s generosity but also to the strength of Utah\u2019s local arts community. Each tile bears the fingerprint of its contributor, forming a whole that is unified yet gloriously varied.<\/h4>\n

To the left of “Community Quilt,” looking out over the city through the gallery windows, a vertical piece titled “Heirloom” stands tall and composed. Suspended from a walnut dowel, it combines bone beads, porcelain forms and metal hooks in a scroll-like construction. The shape recalls a woven runner\u2014the kind placed at the center of a family table\u2014a quiet nod to domestic ritual and generational memory. Like much of Hartman\u2019s work, “Heirloom” balances fragility with strength. It is pristine but not sterile; instead, it feels lived in, sacred and handled with care.<\/h4>\n