Dirt's Tones and Tales: Margaret Boozer's 'Dirt Drawings'

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VISITING THE Katzen Arts Center at American University, one would not expect to see 12,000 pounds of clay lying on the floor. But that's exactly what's at the museum through Sun., part of Margaret Boozer's exhibition "Dirt Drawings."

Boozer shows the personality of clay beyond standard ceramic forms. She spent two weeks bringing in materials from Perryville, Md., in shades of milky pink, lavender and yellow. She's arranged her finds on the museum's polished concrete floor in piled rocky fragments or raked powdery matter.

Particular works even show growth, such as a circular form that was initially poured as a wet pool (as evidenced by the splattering on the wall). It has since dried, revealing deep ravines that offer more the feel of a geological phenomenon than a finished exhibition.

"Usually, a museum is designed to take care of objects rather than foster their growth and evolution," says Katzen director and curator Jack Rasmussen. "This show is about the artistic process, instead of rows of pots."

The exhibition is also about natural formations, industrial sites and other clay sources where Boozer finds inspiration. That much is clear in the mix of organic and deliberate patterning of her forms.

Though she shapes each structure, Boozer also lets go, allowing the clay to show its true, almost painterly colors. And when the show's over, she's invited other artists to take away the clay for their own purposes. The only requirement: Send her a picture of what they make for her records of the clay's rebirth.

» Katzen Arts Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW; through Sun., Aug. 16; 202-885-1300.

Written by Express contributor Danielle O'Steen
Photo courtesy Margaret Boozer/Katzen Arts Center