Natalie Rae Good
Byzantine Chain, 2019-2020
Raku fired stoneware with iron hook
13 x 2 x 2 inches
Natalie Rae Good’s ceramic chain mail compositions address the complicated nature of possession and power. Good uses traditional weaving patterns from the Middle Ages to create ceramic sculptures that are suspended from hand forged iron hooks.
The chains themselves hold a multiplicity of contradictory meanings: in one sense, bonding implies protection, mutuality, strength; in another, restriction and punishment. The tension between the durable forms and the fragile materials points to the illusionary yet powerful nature of control, domination, social hierarchies, as well as security and unity. "Things often are not what they seem," says Good, "There is inherent fragility in all human projects and these ceramic meditations shed light on these truths."
Byzantine Chain is approximately 13 x 2 x 2 inches and is displayed with the included hand forged iron hook. The raku fired stoneware chain links are off-white and mottled with black soot from the firing process.
Formally a Marfa, Texas resident, Natalie Rae Good lives and works in New Mexico.
