Cordella

Georgia Blizzard, Cordella, ca. 1980 - 1990, low-fired clay, 13 × 6 × 6 ³⁄₄ in. (33 × 15.2 × 17.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Orren and Marilyn Bradley and Kohler Foundation, Inc., 2015.58.2

Artwork Details

Title: Cordella
Artist: Georgia Blizzard
Date: ca. 1980 - 1990
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
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Luce Foundation Center
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3rd Floor
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26A
Dimensions: 13 × 6 × 6 ³⁄₄ in. (33 × 15.2 × 17.1 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Orren and Marilyn Bradley and Kohler Foundation, Inc.
Mediums Description: low-fired clay
Classifications: Sculpture
Object Number: 2015.58.2
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2015.58.2

Artwork Description

Georgia Blizzard grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of southwestern Virginia and as a child made her own playthings from creek-bed clay. Over time her small figures became decorative vessels, which the writer Tom Patterson has described as “containers for her own innermost feelings, deepest thoughts, and most powerful memories.” Blizzard was inspired by Christian evangelist Billy Graham, the eighteenth-century English poet William Blake, mythology, and the events of her own life. She believed there was a spiritual nature to her work, and intended for her pots to fill the viewer both physically and metaphorically. This pot, entitled Cordella, has prominent breasts and distinct facial features, which are pre-Columbian symbols of fertility and life. The pained facial expression reflects Blizzard’s concern for human suffering.