Wax and Wane

Nancy Carman, Wax and Wane, 1983, porcelain and stoneware, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Helen Williams Drutt English and H. Peter Stern in honor of the 35th anniversary of the Renwick Gallery, 2007.47.7A-B
Copied Nancy Carman, Wax and Wane, 1983, porcelain and stoneware, 17 1217 3811 38 in. (44.444.228.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Helen Williams Drutt English and H. Peter Stern in honor of the 35th anniversary of the Renwick Gallery, 2007.47.7A-B

Artwork Details

Title
Wax and Wane
Artist
Date
1983
Dimensions
17 1217 3811 38 in. (44.444.228.8 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Helen Williams Drutt English and H. Peter Stern in honor of the 35th anniversary of the Renwick Gallery
Mediums Description
porcelain and stoneware
Classifications
Keywords
  • Landscape — celestial — moon
  • Figure — head
Object Number
2007.47.7A-B

Artwork Description

Nancy Carman's haunting ceramic pieces frequently contain white surrealistic figures in eerie settings. In Wax and Wane, Carman attached a bald, expressive head to the top of a gray pyramidal structure. The title refers to phases of the moon, included behind and to the left of the figure, over the course of the lunar day. Carman calls herself "slightly superstitious" and believes that each of her pieces is the result of some event in her life, whether it is an experience or "simultaneous or even precognitive phenomena." (The artist, quoted in Ceramics Monthly 29, no. 9, November 1981)