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Joshua Freeman
Fountain of My Youth, 2018
White clay, underglazes, chalk powder, glass, pump, inflatable pool

This work exhibits the contradiction of the perceived strength of unfired clay with its frailty and humility when exposed again to water. Dry and hard, it is trapped in limbo with its fading façade of color and fleeting function as a fountain.

The fountain is comprised of icons from my childhood as a Millennial child growing up in America. Coming from my present lens of being a father, this work recollects my own youthful memories through the unfired clay toys and bright colors which gradually, like most of our memories, become dim and blended causing a loss of recognition over time as new memories are imprinted in our minds.

The fountain form has a deep history of public installation ranging from clean drinking water for the masses, religious purpose for baptisms, and adornment for residences of monarchs and nobles. While these uses speak to this piece distantly, the primary decision for this form was for a more contemporary use as a meditative and spiritual apparatus that becomes disrupted with the juxtaposition of the youthful representations of my childhood and the transformative power of erosion.