Margaret Boozer, Difficult Ordinary Happiness, 2017

In Difficult Ordinary Happiness (with thanks to Adrienne Rich), Margaret Boozer uses her expertise in ceramics to create an abstract image out of locally-sourced earth and minerals in what she calls a Rammed-Earth Painting. Boozer makes the Rammed-Earth paintings by repeatedly pounding her materials onto a wooden backing until they acquire the physical weight and presence of earth. The artist uses lavender and gray clays, sand and black basalt, and pigments sourced from a quarry she frequents in Maryland. The soil in this work tells a story about the state of Maryland. Boozer’s work explores the importance of understanding soil from its significance in growing healthy crops to its use in construction. Each pigment and grain that she extracts from the earth and offers for our contemplation tells a smaller story about the ground we walk on and interact with every day.

Text written by Sarang Yeola
Student Committee Selection 2016–2017