Linda Lighton

And She Did Not Live Happily Ever After... But She Did Live

What the Bridal Consultant Never Tells You

Clay and glaze
10” x 12.5” x 12”
1987/2023

The First Lady

Clay, glaze, china paint and lustres
13.25” x 14” x 13”
1986/2023

S&M Cleaning

Clay, glaze, china paint and lustres
14” x 15” x 14”
1987/2023

Groceries

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
15 1/2” x 14” x 7 1/2”
1987

Daddy's Hungry

Clay, glaze, china paint and lustres
21.5” x 18” x 8.5”
1987/2023

Laundry

clay, china paint and glaze
23” x 24” x 4 1/2”
1987

Laundry

Clay and glaze
16” x 18” x 4”
1983

After Dinner

clay and glaze
15” x 11” x 12”
1986

The Secretary

Clay and glaze

20” x 18.34” x 3.5”

1987/2023

Love and War: The Ammunition

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
various sizes
2010

Taking Care of Business

clay, glaze, lustres
various sizes
1987

Minimalist Legal Pads

clay and glaze
60” x 11 1/2” x 3”
1987

Working Man's Dilemma

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres, paint
18.5” x 6.5” 5.5”
1986/2023

Pearl-Handled Dueling Monkey Wrenches

clay, glaze, lustres
10.5” x 9” x 2.5”
1986

Monkey Wrench Mandala

clay, glaze, china paint, steele
16” x 18” x 3 1/2”
1981

The Cowboy

clay and glaze
20” x 21” x 3”
1986

Cut Offs

clay and glaze
14” x 11” 4 1/2”
1986

Building People

Cities are defined by their architecture. They have personalities. People are defined by their demeanor, their personality and their habits. These can be confining, a kind of entrapment. Manners, self-control, and appearances don’t reveal the inner person. In spite of this, no matter what, the show must go on.

We must contain ourselves. Above all, make the world predictable; no surprises. We talk about spontaneity, but we crave conformity. Some people are bound so tightly by their habits and the mores of society that they become institutionalized. That’s refined! It is neat. It is tidy. It is a tight operation. It’s predictable, confined, defined, but is it worth it? Our homes and apartments are our urban ornaments. They can be a place of refuge or a prison.

These portrait heads are of real and imagined people, relatives and self-portraits.

The General

clay, glaze, paint, china paint, lustres
20 1/4” x 10” x 5”
1989

The Good Wife

marble, bronze, clay and glaze
19” x 10” x 11”
1989

Untitled

clay, glaze and china paint
20” x 12 1/2” x 11”
1988

Self Portrait With Noose

caly, string and china paint
17” x 12 1/2” x 7”
1988

Figure in Architecture

clay, glaze and china paint
17” x 6” x 4”
1988

Patriarch

clay, glaze and china paint
15” x 10” x 5”
1987

Body Building, Urban Armaments

clay, glaze and china paint
21” x 12” x 6 1/2”
1987

Latvian Security

Clay, glaze, and china paints

9”x7.25”x5”

1993

Huntsman Teapot

Porcelain, glaze and china paint

8.5”x8”x5”

1979

Logger Teapot

Porcelain, glaze and china paint

7”x11”x7”

1978

Trash

Recycle Your Trash

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
8 1/2” x 15” x 9”
1980

Compost

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres

10” x 43” x 912

2003-2004

Compost Pile

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
various sizes
1983

Bag of Leaves

clay, glaze, china paint
15” x 19” x 12”
1983

Bananascape

clay, glaze, china paint and lustres
18”x23”x14”
2020

Bananascape

clay, glaze, china paint and lustres
18”x23”x14”
2020

White Trash

Herrend Porcelain, glaze
various sizes
2003

Dirty White Trash

Herrend Porcelain
variable sizes
2004

Trump Trash #2

clay, metal leaf
various sizes
2018

Trump Trash

clay, glaze and gold leaf
various sizes
2017

Trump Trash (Detail)

Flowers

When thinking about these flowers, I am often thinking of the Zen ideal of the parts being as important as the whole. The atom is as important as the universe.

I would like to catch just a moment in time, a moment of truth and passion.

I have heard that fairies send their best sentiments to mankind in the form of flowers.

These blooms are a gift to my viewers.

In these works, my visual thoughts swing from social issues, personal anxieties, and the fear of humanity growing cold to the beauty and exoticism in life and nature.

These works have: no angst, no anxiety, no strife or bare it all story.

They are note about:
device,
resistance,
or strife.

They are about the gentle spiral of life unfurling.

These flowers:
revolve,
dissolve,
resolve,
and evolve.

These flowers are about:
the fecundity of life,
growth,
birth,
maturity,
opportunity and hope,
chance,
the dance of life,
and regeneration.

I hope these works will not be just a visual experience, but a thinking and feeling experience as well.

XL Pipeline Oil Spill

clay, glaze, china paint and lustres and metal leaf
32” x 10” x 16”
2018

The Black Widow

clay, glaze
30” x 14” x 21”
2018

My Desire

clay, glaze, lustres and gold leaf
19” x 10” x 13”
2016

My Desire 1

clay, glaze and china paint
18” x 9 1/2” x 15 1/2”
2016

White Flower

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
25 1/2” x 12” x 9”
2018

My Desire 2

clay, china paint, glaze
17" x 10 1/2" x 11"
2016

Spanish Desire

clay, glaze, and metal leaf
20” x 8” x 11”
2016

Cotton Boll

clay, glaze and lustres
16” x 30” x 30”
2007

Mapped Flower

white earthenware, glaze, china paint
11 1/4” x 31” x 22”
Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri: Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection
2007

Flowers with Imari Decoration, Grouping

Variou Sizes
clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
2006

Highway 61 Revisited

clay, glaze, & china paint
9 x 30 x 14 inches

Highway 61 Revisited

clay, glaze, & china paint
9 x 30 x 14 inches

Camoulflora

clay, glaze, china paints, lustres
30” X 15” x 18”
2004

Camouflora II

Herrend porcelain, china paint and lustres
17” x 7 1/2” x 9 1/2”
2004

Chive Flower

clay, glaze, lustres, and china paint
25” x 17” x 12 1/2”
2004

Pink and Yellow Rose

clay, glaze, china paint and lustres
33” x 17” x 20”
2004

Triple White Zinnia

clay and glaze
43” x 27” x 15”
2003

Orange Poppies

clay, glaze, lustres
29" x 25 1/2" x 10 1/2"
1999

Mapped Flower

clay. glaze, china paint
31” x 11” x 20 1/2”
1999
collection of Kemper Museum

Hibiscus

clay, glaze, metal leaf, oil paint
21" x 16" x 12"
1996

Blue Aster

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
27 1/2" x 24" x 10 1/2"
1999

Pansies

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
17" x 7 1/2" x 9 1/2"
1995

Pink Begonia

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
16" x 19" x 12 1/2"
1994

Divas

I worry over the life I will give these figures, hybrids, inspired by flowers and plant life, and how they will evolve into being through color. Telling their story cogently and clearly can only be done by picking the right color; layering them, shining them into existence. The depth of a plum red. The languid pulsing of purple with blood and muscle underneath. I want to bring up questions of identity, sexuality and power through form and color.

Nude Descending a Staircase, Upright

clay, glaze, lustres and china paint
18” x 11 1/2” x 15”
2007

Nude Descending a Staircase

clay, glaze, lustres and china paint
18” x 11 1/2” x 15”
2007

Diva Kay

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
15" x 10" x 8"
2002
Collection of Ariana Museum, Geneva, Switzerland

Diva Aretha

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
16" x 13 1/2" x 5 1/2"
2002

Dame Edna

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
20" x 6 1/2" x 5 1/2"
2002
Collection of Nerman Museum, Johnson County, Kansas

Diva Laura

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
22" x 9" x 11"
2002
Collection of Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO

Chanteuse de L'Opera

clay, glaze, china paint and lustres
18” x 8” x 6”
2000

Diva

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
11 1/2" x 5" x 4 1/2"
2000

Diva

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
wooden base (1.5" tall)
18 1/2" x 9" x 6"
2000
Collection of International Ceramics Museum, Icheon, S. Korea

Diva with Rudy

clay, glaze, lustres, china paint
16" x 9" x 6 1/2"
2000

Diva

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
12" x 7 1/2" x 7"
2000

Diva

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
11 1/2" x 5" x 4 1/2"
2000

Diva

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
14 1/2" x 8" x 6"
2000

Diva

clay, glaze, china paint,
lustres, bronze powder
18 1/2" x 11" x 9"
2000

No, It's Not a Daffodil

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
17 1/2" x 11 1/2" x 6"
2000

The Czarina Damnwell

clay, glaze, china paint, lustre
14 1/2" x 8" x 4"
Belger Arts Center Collection
2000

Diva Marilyn

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
12" x 8" x 6"
2000
Collection of Nerman Museum, Johnson County, Kansas

Diva Yael

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
9 1/2" x 5" x 4"
2000

Tubeworm Tango

My work explores various microcosms and the details within.

This group of sculptures evolved from ideas of growth and transition, from a feminine point of view. I’ve been tubeworms and mollusks, as well as orchids and the sex of flowers. My sculptures are defines by their sensuality, fertility and and empowered sexuality. Color is integral. I animate the work with the application of China paints and lusters and colored glazes. Often up to 10 firings in the kiln. I consider the work organic as well as figurative.

Ode to Jellyfish

clay, glaze, china paint and lustres
12” x 9 1/2” x 9 1/4”
2008

Unidentified Sax

clay, glaze, lustres, China paint
11 1/2" x 3 3/4" x 5 3/4"
2002-03
shown hanging

Tubeworm

clay, glaze, china paint and Lustres
17” x 5” x 6 1/2
2006

Stinger, Tube Worm

clay, glaze, lustres, china paint, lustres
14" x 4 1/2" x 3 1/2"
Collection of Foshan Ceramic Museum, Foshan, China
2005
shown hanging

Tubeworm

clay, glaze, china paint and lustres
16” x 3 3/4” x 4”
2004
shown hanging

Sea Creature

clay, glaze, lustres
9" x 4" x 6"
2004
shown hanging

Wonderous Kiss

clay, glaze, China paint, lustres
12" x 9 1/2" x 9 1/4"
2004

A Wonderous Kiss, Detail

clay, glaze, China paint, lustres
12" x 9 1/2" x 9 1/4"
2004

Tube Worm

clay, glaze, China paint, lustres
8" x 14" x 8 1/2"
2002-03

Tubeworm Tango #2

clay, soda fire, China paint, lustres
17 1/2" x 4 3/4" x 4 1/2"
2004

Pinky the Tubacious Tubeworm

clay, glaze, china paint and lustres
17” x 11” x 9”
2003

Pink Tickler Bulb

clay, glaze, china paint and lustres
9” x 3 1/2” x 4 1/2”
2003

Sea Snail

Clay, glaze, china paint and lustres

8”x8”x7.5”

2002-2003

Curious Georgia

clay, glaze and china paint
19” x 15” x 11”
2008

Boundless Joy

I am intersted in the life force; a dangerous beauty entailing seduction, sexual prowess and moaning hormones. I want the work to celebrate the spirit of life. The work, two-stepping towards figuration, beckoning seductively, singing the high notes for recognition. They beckon the viewer to come closer," come hither.”

I want to make something elegant, gorgeous. Oh my God, Have I gone over the line? Is this Baroque-A-Go-Go? I wish my work to smell of the sea, have colors as soft and slippery as a satin quilt. Taste the effervescent tingle of pink.

Succulent!

Tinkerbelle

clay, glaze and lustres
14 1/2” x 13” x 12”
2007

Tinkerbelle

clay, glaze and lustres
14 1/2” x 13” x 12”
2007

Diva Peregrine

Clay, glaze, china paints and lustres

18.75” x 13” x 12”

2014

Samba Dancer

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
17 1/2” x 13 1/2” x 11”
2007

Ricci's Samba Partner

clay, glaze, china paint and lustres
21” x 13” x 11 1/2”
2007

Samba Chicken

clay, glaze, china paint and lustres
18 1/2” x 13 1/2” x 11 1/2”
2007
Collection of Tom & Loretta Mentzer, Kansas City, MO

Sea Snail (front)

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
8" x 8" x 7 1/2"
2002-03

Miami Sea Sponge

clay, glaze and china paints
16” x 7” x 8”
2017

Sea Sponge

clay, glaze, china paint and lustres
15 1/4” x 9” x 6”
2007
Collection of Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO

Sea Sponge

clay, glaze, china paint and lustres
15 1/2” x 9” x 6”
2007
Nelson Atkins Museum of Art Collection

White Seasponge

clay and glaze
18” x 8” x 6”
2010

Taking Aim

A direct critique of the impact of gun violence in our time. The brutality referenced in this collection is directly connected to a materialistic love of weaponry, its proliferation in homes across the United States and a disconnection between easy trigger fingers and tragic consequences.

It links gun violence to violence against women, and then connects both ideas to capitalist greed and the human preoccupation with power, control and status. Taking Aim is directly and specifically about American culture, and the impact of gun ownership across an increasingly aggressive, deracinated and unstable society, forcing the viewer to become an unwitting participant in the dilemma that is at the heart of American culture today: that we are attracted to violence, and ashamed of our collusion in its prevalence. Lighton worries that there is a slow erosion of Democracy because of America’s unwillingness to relinquish firearms.

View Don Maxwell’s video “Witness” about Lighton’s process and the making of this series of work.

Thoughts & Prayers I

clay, glaze, and lustres
24” x 24” x 7”
2018

Thoughts & Prayer II

clay, glaze, and paint
24” x 24” x 7”
2018

La Petite Mort

clay, glaze, and china paint
30” x 19” x 16”
2016

The Modern City State

clay, glaze, and lustres
15” x 14” x 11”
2016

The Modern City State #1

ceramic, platinum and lustres
13” x 9” x 8”
2016

Allegretto Con Moderato (2)

clay and glaze
21” x 16 1/2” x 11 1/2”
2014

Allegretto Con Moderato (1)

clay and glaze
19” x 9 1/2” x 13”
2014

Hands Up, Don't Shoot

clay and glaze
16” x 17” x 13”
2014

Hands Up Don't Shoot #1

clay and glaze
12” x 10.5” x 8”
2013

I Don't Want a Bullet to Kiss Your Heart

clay, glaze, paint and steel
96” x 102” x 28”
2011-2012

Hit Me

clay, glaze, wood, and metal leaf
48” x 48”
2012

Candy Coated Fear And Greed

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
30” x 32” x 9”
2011

Cause and Effect

ceramic and glaze
24” x 23” x 26”
2011

44 Magnum Mandala

porcelain and steel
28 1/2” x 19 1/2” x 4”
2011

Love and War: The Ammunition

clay, glaze, china paint lustres
16” x 22” x 19”
2011

Camouflora (2)

Herrend porcelain, china paint, and lustres
17” x 7 1/2” x 9 1/2”
2004

Love & War: The Ammunition

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres, wood
15” x 15” x 4”
2004

Love and War: the Ammunition

clay, glaze, china paint and lustres
various sizes
2004

Love & War: The Ammunition

clay, glaze, china paint, lustres
various sizes
1986

Supreme Justice

Clay, glaze, China paint, lustres
23’x23’x9”
2023

Supreme Justice

Clay, glaze, China paint, lustres
23”x23”x9”
2023

Supreme Justice

Clay , glaze, china paint, and lustres

16”x13.5”x9”

2023

Supreme Justice

Clay, glaze, china paint and lustres

15”x15”6.5”

2023

Luminous

I want my work to celebrate the spirit of life and explore how we get to the next place.

Luminosity is light from within. I believe it is the perfect antidote to the environment where we are consumed by thoughts of the recession and being at war. It is the opportunity to explore the light in each of us. I am imagining this light as a moment without aggression. It emanates a calmness and a quiet goodness, not hot, but the last moment before sleep, or death. They hang in the air, facing downward, ready to kiss the earth. They appear ready to drop their petals, blown out, at the end of their time.

This is a conversation about a tipping point in life, not birth or sex or middle age: it is about the fragility of life. The beginning of the last chapter. This is a world that needs to be recognized and a conversation needs to ensue. I hope the viewing of this work will transport the audience to a contemplative, dreamy place to escape the mundane and consider the ethereal and ephemeral.

Chandelier

porcelain, Wood, led lights
54” x 52” x 68”
2019

Collection of Kansas City Museum, Kansas City, MO

Detail of Luminous at the Kansas City Museum

Everlasting Light

porcelain, steel, gold leaf, LED light
10” x 10 1/2” x 10”
2013
Temple Israel, Omaha, Nebraska

Everlasting Light

porcelain, glaze, LED lighting;
steel work by Asheer Akram
18" x 18" x 20"
2011

Fuschia Bud Chandelier

porcelain, glaze and halogen lighting
37” x 15” x 19”
2011

Porcelain Wall Light

porcelain, LED lights, silk cord
10” x 18” x 4”
2011