Tony Ferguson Current Works Available

Anagama Clay Artist

2002 - 2003 Recipient of the annual ARAC McKnight Artist Fellowship

Resume Current Work in Progress Classes Workshops Available An Interview

Q: What do you consider yourself to be, an artist or a craftsman? Why?

A: I am both an artist and a crafts person--the two are interconnected. A painter paints an image--an image is a sign to communicate "something"--that has as much valid function as does a pot to hold water. Art has at the same time evolved from craft & function and precedented craft & function in the mind of the artist or at that first inclination to be expressive. It is the fiery flame of the desire within us to know what is beyond ourselves yet is also within us--when we express this initiative to know and discover through any form, this is creative expression, this is Art. You see, many people have been taught that Art is more an outwardly expression and if it doesn't serve some utilitarian, persuasive or other function, what is it worth? I say it is first an inwardly expression to know, coming from within and expressed on the outside. Who cares if someone else "gets it" unless that is what you are going for--but then it is no longer about you and your discovery--it is about them, your audience, your caterings to their desire for entertainment or knowledge...You are an artist when you are whole fully expressing yourself for the need and act of expression--not to sell, not for aggrandizement, not for ego, not for the "they" or "them" but for "I" or "me", "myself."--to learn about your self, your origin of being and how it is connected, interconnected, to the grand scheme of things--that is the challenge of the true artist--to know they self and Truth and honestly express this process of awareness, struggle, development through the art form. Now if you can express for yourself and it inspires, helps, motivates others to tread their own path of discovery, then you have done something amazing--then you have become a sansei, a master, a teacher.

Q: What is your opinion on this debate? Is it important to draw the line between what is art and what is craft? Why or why not?

A: People like to draw lines because it makes them comfortable, secure, some sense of having control in a world that appears to both orderly and chaotic--this confuses us. It is simple: if you make something from which the motivation embodies an intention that goes beyond its either intended or unintended form in some unique way, that some how pulls together elements (whatever your medium is) in such a way that they bespeak an intelligence, a creativity that is meta-cognitive, beyond the mind, perhaps drawing from the recesses of spirit, the soul, the energy force that exists in all of us and in all things, then you are creating art. It is a catch 22--like the Zen Buddhists say, it is a "happy accident." If there is too much intention, then there is too much ego and it is more difficult for something grand to enter into your artwork from a higher place and a self beyond your self. I think of "art" as having a relationship to what the west calls the aesthetic experience: .............It is when we the viewer upon witnessing the artwork, something inside of us recognizes something in the work beyond pure aesthetics--it is something within the artist's expression that captures us, draws us to their medium for they are connecting & communicating to something within us which we desire to know or already know--a realization of similarity and sameness or recognition of knowing something you knew but didn't really know until that new moment of realization.

A: You see, for me, we are talking about origin of being stuff here, going back to a place where it all makes sense----why are we here, what is the meaning of this life? I suppose that is why I am drawn to clay and ancient things--things full of wisdom, record, the alchemy of fusing elements and creating something from these base materials. Humans are like clay--we can also transform ourselves from something baser to something that is refined, better. We are the living alchemists and possess the ability to transform our being into something greater, grander if we so desire. It is through this process that we are connected to some people (our teachers and students) and not others as they have their own interconnected paths with others like you and me to walk--yet we are all connected. In the East, they call this karma--unsettled debts of cause and effect, relationships of action that must be settled for your soul to move on its wayward path back to the Creator. My art makes sense because it is tangible, appears real because it comes from me in what appears to be more and more an unreal world--yet my work is a complete mystery and at the same time I believe has become an outward expression of my inner desire and search for Truth.

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