Contemporary Ceramics

June 13, 2017 11:09 AM

11 artists creating unexpected excellence in ceramics.

In order with links to their own websites and the more detailed write-ups, they are:
Christopher David White: "Sculptor Expertly Fools the Eye with Surreal Ceramics That Look Like Wood"
Charlotte Mary Pack: "Colorful Ceramics Topped with Endangered Animals to Identify and Help Save Them"
Zemer Peled: "Exquisite Sculptural Blooms Made with Thousands of Ceramic Shards"
Brett Kern: "Inflatable Dinosaur Toys Are Actually Expertly-Crafted Ceramic Sculptures" (previously)
Livia Marin: "Ceramic Cups Melt Into Puddles of Patterned Porcelain"
Lei Xue: "Smashed Cans Sculpted in the Traditional Style of Ming Dynasty Porcelain" (previously)
Johnson Tsang: "Surreal Ceramic Sculpture Captures the Carefree Bliss of Falling in Love"
Don Moyer: "Hilarious Plateware Designs Insert Zombies and Calamitous Creatures in Traditional Ceramic Motifs"
Yee Sookyung: "Korean Artist Sews Together Broken Ceramic Shards With 24K Gold"
Tim Kowalczyk: "Dilapidated Cardboard Mugs Are Actually Expertly Crafted Ceramic Sculptures"
Jon Almeda: "Artist Creates Miniature Hand-Thrown Pottery Small Enough to Sit on Your Fingertip"

posted by mattamatic (16 comments total)

I tend to be pretty grumpy and conservative when it comes to modern ceramicists, ie way too many pop culture mashups and an emphasis on abstraction before traditional shapes and glazing techniques have been mastered. That said, some of these are pretty pretty cool.
posted by Think_Long at 11:54 AM on June 13, 2017 [2 favorites]

oh man, this is great. <3
posted by Dressed to Kill at 12:17 PM on June 13, 2017

Very interesting! Most of those made me think "Okay, this one is my favourite." Until I looked at the next one and thought the same thing again. But I think the teapot/puddle one is actually my fave.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 12:18 PM on June 13, 2017 [3 favorites]

On the flip side of the "Ming Dynasty smashed can" pottery is the aluminum cans of Sangaria Royal Milk Tea.
posted by tychotesla at 12:25 PM on June 13, 2017

Oh, man, I love the elaborate flowers and the inflatable dinosaurs, but the wooden hands! Those are just blowing my mind.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:01 PM on June 13, 2017

Neat!
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:06 PM on June 13, 2017

My personal favorite is Johnson Tsang. I've spent a lot of time looking at the photos of his art and found the main article from his facebook page. The detail in some pieces he has made is just great.
posted by mattamatic at 1:22 PM on June 13, 2017 [2 favorites]

These are really cool! Immediately made me recall the work of my cousin. She's a bit closer to the "traditional shapes and glazing techniques" that Think_Long is missing, but I hope her mugs and plates have a place in this thread. (blog is unfortunately in hungarian)
posted by kmt at 1:32 PM on June 13, 2017 [2 favorites]

Could a mod please fix the second name? It's supposed to be "Charlotte Mary Pack" but my pasting skills fell short.
posted by mattamatic at 2:18 PM on June 13, 2017

Mod note: Fixed!
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 2:36 PM on June 13, 2017

Hey! It's the Calamityware Kickstarter guy!
posted by amtho at 4:20 PM on June 13, 2017

Sylvia Hyman does some cool things with ceramics. I saw an exhibition of her works at the Frist Center in Nashville a few years ago, and it was very hard not to touch them to prove to myself that they weren't actually paper.
posted by jacquilynne at 5:43 PM on June 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

Johnson Tsang indeed. WOW. Thanks, mattamatic; I'd never seen his stuff before, and I love it.
posted by heyho at 5:48 PM on June 13, 2017

I will add one more name for your reflection: Teri Frame.
posted by evilDoug at 8:04 PM on June 13, 2017

I loved the calamitywear and the dinosaurs. So real! So funny! I don't even know how they do that.
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:17 AM on June 14, 2017

Thanks for alerting me to Calamityware. I didn't need that savings account anyway.
posted by the_blizz at 2:12 PM on June 14, 2017