The Basin of the Mind

Fritsch creates nonfunctional pieces that are primarily about improvisation and surface. Fritsch created The Basin of the Mind early, shortly after graduating from the Royal College of Arts. (She studied with renowned British potter Hans Coper.) Fritsch uses a laborious coiling technique, and instead of glazes she applies layers of dry matte slips to her pots, integrating the decoration into the form. The penciled title is likely a reference to a passage from Zora Neale Hurston’s celebrated novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Fritsch has thus transformed the work from a decorated bowl to a container for the intangible.