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Ruth Duckworth

Ruth Duckworth, Maquette for “Earth, Water, Sky.” 1968–1969, glazed stoneware and wood. Gift of Mrs. Leonard Horwich, Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, 1987.6.

Clay forms recalling mountains, valleys, lakes, clouds, and other natural phenomena collide and coalesce in Ruth Duckworth’s maquette. Duckworth created this architectural model as a study for Earth, Water, Sky—an immersive ceramic mural commissioned for the foyer of the University of Chicago’s Henry Hinds Laboratory, where it remains today.

Inspired by topographical maps and the emergence of satellite imagery, Duckworth’s maquette and mural depict aerial views of the earth that collapse geomorphic, hydrologic, and atmospheric processes onto a single plane. By shaping these diverse environmental forces from a common earthen material, clay, Duckworth’s artwork echoes her belief in a “common energy” from which all things grow. Viewed from above, Duckworth’s maquette is a humble portrayal of the environment, whereas her monumental mural surrounds and incorporates its viewers into its representation of a planetary ecology, perhaps moving them to share in her “intense concern for nature – our environment and what we do to it.”

— Jack Schneider