Her Secret Series celebrates and pays homage to Beatrice Wood’s unique approach to figurative ceramic sculptural forms made in a deliberately naive style that she called Sophisticated Primitives. The figures often had a humorous message designed to evoke a reaction. Featured in a 2021 exhibition at the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts titled Put a Lid On It each portrait figure has a secret hidden compartment revealed when shoulders and head lift from the dress. Two of the portraits reside in the home of private collectors, the third chosen for inclusion to the Permanent Collection of The Ojai Valley Museum in Ojai, California.
Materials: Ceramic, Mason Stain, Oxides
Dimensions: 9 ½" H X 5" W X 3" D
In modern day Israel a temple was unearthed in the archeological dig site of Lachise, an ancient Canaanite city. Among the treasures discovered within Elat, the goddess temple, was an elegant narrow necked vessel in the shape of a woman wearing a long skirt with a spoon head-crown known as an Unguent Flask or scent bottle. The vessel is around 3500 years old and was most likely used in funerary or religious context primarily as container for perfumed oils or ointments and created as tribute to the Egyptians from the Canaanites. Cord’s Canaanite Goddess are modern day antiquities that pay homage to this one-of-a-kind ancient vessel.
Materials:
Ceramic,
Porcelain Slip, Mason Stains, Oxides, Copper, Luster Beads
Dimensions:
21"
H X 4" W X 2 ½" D
Ancient artifacts show that the rattle has always held an important place in the civilizations of just about every culture. For many the rattle is regarded as the dwelling place of great spirits and ancestors. These rattles were created as part of Maryann Cord’s Cypriot Antiquities Series examining and paying homage to ancient art from Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean dating back as far as 2000 BC. They represent quintessential Cypriot fusion of indigenous traditions and elements assimilated from the ancient Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans who one after the other controlled the island through its history. They are what Cord terms modern day artifacts.
Materials: Ceramic, Oxide
Dimensions: 6″ H x 6″ W x 4″ D
Once upon a time there was a magical kingdom where elephants wore sunglasses, frogs wore toe rings, and eyes sometimes looked exactly like flower petals. In this enchanted place anything was possible if you were free enough to dive deep into the vessel of limitless possibilities called Fantastical Imaginings. The binds of the creative mind of Maryann Cord are pushed back here and imagination soars expanding everyday norms with intent to have fun, be silly, and make you smile.
Materials: Ceramic, Mason Stain, Oxide, Glaze, South American Agate Gemstone, Glass Bead, Copper
Dimensions: 15" H x 10" W x 13" D
In ancient times it was common to leave replicas of body parts such as the hand as an offering and as a sign of faith. The open-palmed right hand is considered the hand of god and is depicted globally throughout history in ancient texts, artifacts, and all manner of art from fresco paintings, to cave paintings, to rock carvings, to wooden icons, and more, unifying all religious and spiritual realms. The Hand of God speaks with eloquent silence, exploring the rites of devotion, the sacred, the mystic, the spiritual, and the creative worlds, each symbolizing diverse divinity within us. Part of a series this Peace Hand of God resides in the private collection of Marc Osborne.
“We are happy to announce that your beautiful ancient Hand of God sculpture made it to her new home in New Haven, Connecticut finding her rightful permanent display place between two 18th century Chinese horses, and two 17th century Italian columns as it was meant to be.” Marc Osborne
Materials: Ceramic, Mason Stain, Oxide, Pigment, Glaze
Dimensions: 3" H x 4" W x 9" D
With the Right Hat Nothing Else Matters was created by Maryann Cord in the likeness of Claire Mogan. It was commissioned by Jimmy Mogan after a visit to the Beatrice Wood Studio in Ojai where they discovered Cord working on a similar piece. The Mogan’s collect art from around the world residing in both New York City, New York and Palm Beach, Florida. The work celebrates and pays homage to Beatrice Wood’s unique approach to figurative ceramic sculptural forms made in a deliberately naive style that she called Sophisticated Primitives. The figures often had a humorous message designed to evoke a reaction and were portrayed in the nude. Wood said, “I consider them fun comments on life.”
Materials: Ceramic, Mason Stain, Glaze
Dimensions: 10" H x 4" W x 4 ½" D
Mermaid Offering celebrates the ancient divine femininity of the ultimate sovereign goddess, the mermaid. Ancient world mythology has long considered the mermaid a symbol for wild, raw, uncontrollable feminine power thus she serves as the perfect counter to today’s obsolete institutionalized patriarchal society still obsessed with trying to control women and their sexuality. Mermaid Offering represents a vast dive deep into the Great Unknown of change.
Materials: Ceramic, India Ink, Pan Pastel, Amazonite Gemstone, Copper
Dimensions: Wall Hanging 25" H x 7 ½" W x 7" D
OJAI FAERIES by Maryann Cord
Ojai Faeries have been studying diverse spiritual practices over the course of many thousands of years. Like all Faeries in the sacred realm they possess magical powers. Golden jewels they wear are key elements in warding off evil spirits. Traditional Faeries are known to meddle in human affairs. Ojai Faeries however are different. They are laid-back, cool, & calm and are most skilled at transforming the space they reside into sanctuary and helping to open minds to the possibilities of all that there is. De-cluttering the confused mind, emotions, and soul, and helping all to seek communion with the divine is an Ojai Faerie specialty.
Materials: Ceramic, Glass, Mason Stain, Glaze
Dimensions: Triptych 12″H x 31"W x 9"D
NEVERTHELESS SHE PERSISTED by Maryann Cord
After the 2017 presidential inauguration, the five million strong pussy-hat wearing global Woman’s March, and the inappropriate shushing of Senator Elizabeth Warren by a male colleague, it became important, more than ever, for artists, especially women artists, to rise up collectively, refuse to be silenced, and embrace Beatrice Wood’s spirit of rebellion and revolution creatively. Nevertheless She Persisted created by artist Maryann Cord does just that; celebrating and paying homage to Beatrice Wood’s unique approach to the sculptural forms Wood called Sophisticated Primitives that were often portrayed in the nude, and designed to evoke a reaction.
Materials: Ceramic , Mason Stain, Oxides, Glaze
Dimensions:11" H x 13" W x 4" D