The Water Pail

11″ x 10″ x 10″

I was shaken while watching a movie documenting the tragedies of World War II. At one point the camera panned a windowless room where prisoners were water-boarded. The space was devoid of anything other than implements of torture …. a table, rope, and a pail that held water to induce death, or near death, by drowning. The metal pail had an exquisite shape that an unknown artisan must have labored to form. I wanted to capture that shape in ceramic as a reminder that what is beautiful … whether people or objects … can be used in nefarious ways.