| Term | Interpretation | |------|----------------| | Female War | Could refer to internal psychological struggle, gender-based social conflict, or a series about women in combat roles. | | I Am Pottery | Likely a metaphor for being molded, fired, broken, or glazed by external forces. Pottery implies fragility, creation through pressure, and permanence after firing. | | 01 2015 | First issue or part number; released in January 2015. | | Exclusive | Limited run — possibly fewer than 50–100 units, or a private commission. |
To understand the “Female War” piece, one must first understand the cultural moment that birthed it. Between 2013 and 2015, the art world saw a resurgence of narrative pottery—a movement away from purely decorative vases toward ceramic pieces that told stories, often uncomfortable or confrontational ones.
Leading this charge was a pseudonymous artist known only as “I Am Pottery.” Active primarily on Tumblr and a now-defunct platform called ArtStack, I Am Pottery was notorious for limited “drops” of hyper-personal, politically charged clay works. Each drop consisted of no more than 10 pieces, released on the first of a month with a cryptic manifesto. female war i am pottery 01 2015 exclusive
The “Female War” series was announced on December 15, 2014, with a single black-and-white photograph of a cracked kiln. The caption read: “01.2015. She fights with clay, not swords. The exclusive war begins.”
The title is a manifesto in five words.
According to the few surviving screenshots and one grainy YouTube unboxing video (since set to private), “Female War 01” was not a traditional vase or bowl. It was a sculptural vessel standing exactly 8.3 inches tall—an odd, intentional measurement representing the average length of a human hand from wrist to middle finger.
Physical Description:
Thematic Interpretation: Art critics who have analyzed the surviving photos (notably, a 2017 blog post by ceramicist Hannah Veld) argue that the piece represents the internalized conflict of womanhood in the early 21st century—the “war” being the daily negotiation between vulnerability (the porous, skin-like clay) and resilience (the scar glaze). The button, non-functional in a utilitarian sense, invites interaction without purpose, mimicking the performative labor expected of women.
I Am Pottery herself (or himself—the gender remains unconfirmed, though the work heavily implies a female perspective) described it in a since-deleted Instagram comment: “It’s a jar that holds nothing but the sound of your own finger pressing it. That’s the war. You are both the soldier and the battlefield.” | Term | Interpretation | |------|----------------| | Female
As an “Exclusive 2015” piece, it would likely have been shown at:
Collectors’ notes (if leaked) might state: “Edition 1/5. Acquired from the artist’s studio in Pristina/Baghdad/Belfast. Contains soil from a mass grave site, fired at 1200°C.” Thematic Interpretation: Art critics who have analyzed the
| Term | Interpretation | |------|----------------| | Female War | Could refer to internal psychological struggle, gender-based social conflict, or a series about women in combat roles. | | I Am Pottery | Likely a metaphor for being molded, fired, broken, or glazed by external forces. Pottery implies fragility, creation through pressure, and permanence after firing. | | 01 2015 | First issue or part number; released in January 2015. | | Exclusive | Limited run — possibly fewer than 50–100 units, or a private commission. |
To understand the “Female War” piece, one must first understand the cultural moment that birthed it. Between 2013 and 2015, the art world saw a resurgence of narrative pottery—a movement away from purely decorative vases toward ceramic pieces that told stories, often uncomfortable or confrontational ones.
Leading this charge was a pseudonymous artist known only as “I Am Pottery.” Active primarily on Tumblr and a now-defunct platform called ArtStack, I Am Pottery was notorious for limited “drops” of hyper-personal, politically charged clay works. Each drop consisted of no more than 10 pieces, released on the first of a month with a cryptic manifesto.
The “Female War” series was announced on December 15, 2014, with a single black-and-white photograph of a cracked kiln. The caption read: “01.2015. She fights with clay, not swords. The exclusive war begins.”
The title is a manifesto in five words.
According to the few surviving screenshots and one grainy YouTube unboxing video (since set to private), “Female War 01” was not a traditional vase or bowl. It was a sculptural vessel standing exactly 8.3 inches tall—an odd, intentional measurement representing the average length of a human hand from wrist to middle finger.
Physical Description:
Thematic Interpretation: Art critics who have analyzed the surviving photos (notably, a 2017 blog post by ceramicist Hannah Veld) argue that the piece represents the internalized conflict of womanhood in the early 21st century—the “war” being the daily negotiation between vulnerability (the porous, skin-like clay) and resilience (the scar glaze). The button, non-functional in a utilitarian sense, invites interaction without purpose, mimicking the performative labor expected of women.
I Am Pottery herself (or himself—the gender remains unconfirmed, though the work heavily implies a female perspective) described it in a since-deleted Instagram comment: “It’s a jar that holds nothing but the sound of your own finger pressing it. That’s the war. You are both the soldier and the battlefield.”
As an “Exclusive 2015” piece, it would likely have been shown at:
Collectors’ notes (if leaked) might state: “Edition 1/5. Acquired from the artist’s studio in Pristina/Baghdad/Belfast. Contains soil from a mass grave site, fired at 1200°C.”