“Planter Banter” is an exhibition of plant containers containing as well funny narratives and commentary, each created by ceramicist Nathan Winship Smith. This exhibit celebrates growth and a sense of humor, bringing some much needed social therapy to visitors.

“We have been charged morally and emotionally every day during the pandemic,” Winship Smith said. “The outside of each planter will be used as a canvas to explore and vent through jesting and joking, using the ‘garden’ as a metaphor for the individual and collective soul. Simultaneously, the ‘gardener’ will act as a metaphor for the individual and masses who tend to that collective-vessel-holding essence.”

About Nathan Winship Smith

Nathan Winship Smith is an Indianapolis native and has been a practicing ceramicist for 15 years. A graduate of Herron School of Art and Design, Winship Smith holds a MFA from Notre Dame University, studying art history and gender studies. His childhood love of drawing is reflective in his pottery in an imaginative and illustrative style decorates each piece. Ancient archeological references are made in the overall look of each piece, but, upon closer inspection, a modern flare with a bit of commentary on current events is present within the decorative details.

“There is something to be said about the plastic tactile potential for manipulation and creation within clay,” Winship Smith explained. “Ceramics also has the added bonus for bringing in drawing, painting, photography, and printmaking into the creative process. It’s artistic and can be functional and utilitarian, and it can survive through the test of time.”

A board member with Full Circle Nine Gallery, Nathan Winship Smith also runs the Beech Grove Clay Works, and uses hand-building and wheel-throwing methods to create forms for imagery, ornamentation, and color.

About the Full Circle Nine Gallery

The Full Circle Nine Gallery operates as an artist cooperative gallery, with each of the member artists and the board dividing gallery duties and artists roles. The artists will work together to help each other advance in skill and practice, as well as to bring success to the gallery. With over two dozen artists occupying a large, three-room space of the more factory-reminiscent portion of the Circle City Industrial Complex, Full Circle Nine offers a wide variety of art forms, media, and approaches.

The gallery has resumed weekend hours, 12-4pm on Saturdays and Sundays, with health precautions, such as required masks.

Full Circle Nine Gallery is located at 1125 Brookside Ave., Indianapolis, IN, 46202, in the South Studios section of the Circle City Industrial Complex. For more information, or for artists interested in joining the Full Circle Nine, please visit www.fullcirclenine.com