American Crafts – October/November 2018.
‘Portland Arcana’ cited by Garth Clark in American Craft magazine’s survey of leading voices in the field on the question of “What Does ‘Craft’ Mean?”. Full citation reads: – “Craft is a verb, an action, meaning to make or to process. I do not believe in craft as a noun, a thing, as in ‘I make craft.’ My best example is Chris Wight, who used a computer, a water saw, and a special gift of jasper clay from Wedgwood to make a futuristic homage to the Portland Vase [an ancient Roman cameo glass vessel]. The meticulous planning and hand assembly to make these works is awe-inspiring. No, they do not just pop out of machines; they require superb crafting. Nothing in the word ‘craft’ suggests that it must be by hand, be absent of machinery, require virtuosity, or have medieval roots. And Wight’s vases are breathtakingly haptic and beautiful.” ~ Garth Clark, gallerist, renowned ceramics critic and editor-in-chief at CFile.org