Marry the Mundane to the Sacred
Hannah Banciella
“Marry the Mundane to the Sacred” is a quote from the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Her writing about the power of ceremony surfaces again and again in my work, and this collection is no different.
The scale of this project gave me an opportunity to illustrate sea life and landscapes in a few different ways. Some of the plates are inspired by my paintings, while others are more of a study in shape and pattern. The shape of the dessert plates became a fanciful representation of an abalone shell. By first draping clay over an actual abalone shell, I was able to create a shape that felt more like the essence of the shell itself.
As I share this dinner with you tonight on the pieces I made, the mundane and the sacred merge. It’s such a pleasure to spend the evening with you as you interact with my work.
