What do McDonald’s drink trays and Cory McCrory have to do with one another?
Cory McCrory says she and her pottery are in a serious relationship.
In college, their relationship became serious and they lived together for years. After some time apart, they reunited in her adult life. She has made it into a career.
Cory was born and raised in New England before moving to the midwest in her 20s. Now living in Chicago, she works from her home studio and raises her kids while hand building her pots out of paper clay. She combines paper with her clay, which is 15% paper pulp. She uses recycled McDonald’s drink trays. From that clay emerge her functional pieces, which include wine goblets, coffee mugs and butter dishes.
They can easily be described as whimsical. Each piece has a texture to it, and often has more than one color, balancing the brown of the clay. The brown is like the color of a paper lunch bag, and she contrasts that with bright hues of yellow, red and blue. The lines on her pieces aren’t exactly straight, which only adds to the playful feel. They almost look like they would fit in on the Mad Hatter’s table in Alice in Wonderland. She says her work is an interpretation of her everyday life through color texture and form.
Cory McCrory’s teapots
Her goal with each piece is to make you smile.
Stop into the gallery and see for yourself.
Written by Emma Baty, our summer intern.
