GUILLERMO CUELLAR I VENESUELA
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I make utilitarian stoneware pots, wheel thrown and glaze fired for function and clear in their intention. My concern for form is dominant and decoration is kept to a supporting role.

I am fascinated by cultural bridges. Leach's "A Potter's Book", bridging east and west, first gave me an intellectual context for my seduction by the magical transformation of shapeless clay into useful forms which can become a meaningful part of our lives. Historically, cultural contacts hare defied much of ceramics aesthetics and technique but probably never to the extent that they do today, when we can reach across space and time to appropriate almost any set of references we choose. The objects we choose to live with help us define ourselves, expressing our tastes and values, reinforcing our identity.

Utility interests me because it provides a handle, an accessibility-- the beginning of a bridge. Function is a key to informal and intimate areas of our homes and psyches. Imagining the communion around a beautiful salad in a generous bowl or steaming cups of tea or coffee fills me with satisfaction and a confirmation of purpose. Along with utilitarian pots I have found a comfortable identity as a piece in the patchwork of potters of various times, cultures and places. I feel creative freedom and purpose within the framework of useful stoneware pots.

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