Sculpture
Object NameSculpture
Artist / Maker
Deborah Masuoka
(American, b. 1957)
MediumGlazed ceramic
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LinePurchased by University Museums with funds from the Joyce Tomlinson Brewer Fund for Art Acquisition. In the Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Object numberU2025.61
Status
Not on viewCultureAmerican
Label TextCeramic artist and sculptor Deborah Masuoka has interpreted one of the most revered creatures in world mythologies, the rabbit, with her colorful and modernist style ceramic. Fired in a huge walk-in kiln, this untitled rabbit head is a fun and whimsical work for its audiences. Real rabbits are fascinating creatures, capable of amazing physical feats, and are the stuff of legends the world over. As in the famous Br’er Rabbit stories of African-American folk tales, the rabbit relies on its brains instead of brawn to outwit its antagonists.
Deborah Masuoka is particularly known as a ceramic artist. She has made ceramic rabbit heads weighing up to 150 pounds, a difficult task in clay. She paints these large-scale head in colors that resemble stone, like cobalt blue, green, rust, burnt orange and yellow. She likes to work with clay because “it can be molded into any shape and records the human touch.”
Locations
- (not entered) Iowa State University, Warehouse Storage
Object Name: Perfume Bottle w/ Stopper in Stand
Mt. Washington Glass Works
1880-1889
Object number: UM2015.166abc
Object Name: Four Sauce Dishes / Berry Bowls
United States Glass Co.
1900-1909
Object number: UM2015.165abcd
Object Name: Medallion
Christian Petersen
1957
Object number: UM2025.69
