Lauryn Axelrod

Lauryn Axelrod is a ceramic artist working in the Japanese tradition in West Pawlet, Vermont.
She holds a BA from Bennington College, apprenticed in Japan with Bizen potters, and has
studied with Shiro Otani, Jack Troy, John Dix, Jeff Shapiro and others. Her award-winning
woodfired teaware and ceramics are collected nationally and internationally and have been
featured in numerous juried and invitational exhibitions, including Taiwan International Chawan
Festivals, Teabowl National and Strictly Functional. Lauryn is also the creator of The Shard
Project, as well as a photographer, filmmaker, theatre artist, writer, teacher, and community-
based, multi-disciplinary artist.

Tikkun: The Work of Repair is Never Finished

Artist Statement:

I began making ceramics because I was studying Japanese Tea Ceremony as part of my Zen practice and fell in love with the tea bowls as metaphors for the human vessel and our world. I wanted to create objects that brought us into deeper connection with ourselves and the world around us. While there is a long history of ceramics for sacred use, I strive to create contemporary objects that bring a sense of sacredness and ritual to our busy lives. I am deeply inspired by the Japanese aesthetic, the rhythm of the seasons, the places I live and work, and the forms, textures and colors of the natural world. I often use local clay bodies, woodfiring, and natural ash glazes.

I pay close attention to form as the primary expressive element and see my work as sculptural as well as functional. Asymmetry, texture, movement, and tactility are the formal elements I explore. I want my work to feel elemental, ancient…and timeless. I seek aliveness in a piece. Imperfections are expected and appreciated; they remind us that we – and our world – are fragile, perfectly imperfect and still beautiful. These are objects for both contemplation and use.

Kintsugi and Tikkun

Kintsugi is one of my favorite techniques, expressing the fragility of life and the beauty of our efforts to repair ourselves and our world. In many ways, it is the essence of Tikkun. Reflecting this, I work often with torn and broken clay, piecing it back together with kintsugi or allowing it to remain in a state of unwholeness, yet still beautiful. For me, repair – Tikkun – is a process, never completed. But, as the Pirke Avot teaches, “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.”

The Shard Project and Tikkun

The Shard Project is a community art project created by Vermont-based ceramic artist Lauryn Axelrod in 2019 to address climate change and social justice issues. The project uses the creation of “shard” potsherds from local clay to document community confessions and contributions to the climate crisis, serving as a physical, enduring record for the future. It aims to stimulate conversation, encourage creative solutions, and build community through art, with exhibitions in various locations and community participation in ritualistic burying or leaving of the shards.

Before we can repair, we must recognize and acknowledge what is broken and our complicity in that brokenness. The shards are a Vidui – a confession – a visual representation of our contemporary Al Chet: where have we failed and how have our failings contributed to the climate crisis and social injustice. What must we take responsibility for and how can we begin the process of repair?