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Hope Creamer
Professor Sekino-Bové
Clay
2 October 2018

Contemporary Ceramic Artists

The first artist I discovered was Sam Chung. I was particularly drawn to his most recent
work with the theme of clouds. His pieces all seem to be functional as some have spouts and a lid
to contain liquid or a skinny neck to hold flowers like a vase (see image one). In terms of
construction technique, they all are initially thrown on the wheel and then altered later on to get
the cloud like appearance. For this particular project, the artist was inspired by clouds in nature.
His statement about this work was:
Clouds are an auspicious symbol representing immortality and longevity. I
adopted them as a metaphor for my own floating sense of identity between
Korean and American cultures. Their ever-changing, formless nature is
analogous to the way I perceive the fluidity of my cross -cultural
identity. Metaphorically they are breaking out of the past, yet leaving a remnant
of tradition intact. The cloud imagery is contemporiz ed to create a new identity
for the pots suggesting renewal and transformation (Chung).
His inspiration is both meaningful and unique to him as a person and being able to use his own
identity as inspiration in his work is very motivating concept to me. I’m very attracted to both to
sleek and clean appearance to his work as well as the inspiration behind it. It is obvious that all
the pieces are together in the same set, however each has something unique about it whether it is
a touch of color or being thrown wider or taller than others. What Chung does as an artist is he
teaches at Arizona State University in Tempe as an associate professor in ceramics. He has
presented many lectures and workshops nationally and internationally as well.
Another one of his series that really caught my eye was the Architecture/Memories. The
pieces in this set are both functional and sculptural. Some of the pieces are tea kettles (see image
2) that would be functional while others are more sculptural and take on similar shapes as the tea
kettles (see image 3). The constriction techniques used in this particular series appear to be a
combination of wheel thrown, slab, and adding and subtracting methods as well. However, the
different components are attached very well so that the finished products look clean and fit
together well. The pieces were bisque fired and glaze fired as we usually do in our class.
A consistent result of his work have been ceramic vessels and playing with the balance
between form, function and design. Not only can pots exhibit decorativeness and visual appeal,
but they can also bring attention to more functional and tactile concerns as well as create
historical, cultural and experimental associations. The work sparks the curiosity about the
relationships seen among various forms of creative expression from both the past and the present
and trying to invent a new semantic of pottery for the future.
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Image 1. Chung, Sam. “Sam Chung.” Artsy, 2018.

Image 2. Chung, Sam. “Sam Chung.” Artsy, 2018.

Image 3. Chung, Sam. “Sam Chung.” Artsy, 2018.

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The second artist I came across was Richard Notkin. The pieces I was immediately drawn
to were tea pots and tea cups, however they take on some very untraditional appearances (see
image 4). The inspiration behind his tea pots and cups come from political and economic impacts
of contemporary human civilization on the ecological and spiritual impact of the planet,
environment, and the quality of life for individual human beings. These are the topics he says he
is very passionate about so they tend to come up in his art work. Notkin explains the purpose of
his work, “By visually manipulating and juxtaposing various objects, images and symbols to
create narrative sculptural works which stimulate the viewer to examine their own innermost
feelings,” (Notkin). He says he will continue to make ceramic sculptures that reflect on the social
and political dilemmas of our world as long as those issues exist.
Career wise, he is a full time artist that works in Helena, Montana. He has had his work
exhibited internationally in public and private collections including the Metropolitan Museum of
Art in New York, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Shigaraski Ceramic
Cultural Park, Japan. He has also conducted over 250 workshops all over the world. The point
I’m attracted to is how successful he is with something he is so passionate about. What I can
learn from his work is that if you work hard and do what you love, success will come.
What is unique about his work is how he takes an ordinary house hold object and
drastically changes the appearance while still keeping the function. He fires all of these pieces in
a kiln just as we do in class. He visually manipulates and juxtaposes various objects, images and
symbols to create narrative sculpture works which consequently cause the viewer to examine
their own innermost feelings (see image 5). He started out working with sculpture on a much
larger scale rather than his now miniature pieces and explored a wide range of clay and ceramic
techniques.
After seeing his more recent pieces with the tea kettles, I came across some of the older
styles of ceramics he had created that were on a very large scale. His most recent of the large
scale work is a series called “All Nations Have Their Moment of Foolishness” which is a
ceramic wall mural that is approximately four feet high and five feet wide. It consists of 344
separate unglazed earthenware tiles, each slightly smaller than three inch squares. The tiles are
fired in sawdust filled saggars to achieve the wide variety of gray shades ranging from pure
white to jet black (see image 6). After firing the saggars in a natural gas downdraft kiln, the tiles
are sorted according to their shading by 10% increments on the gray scale. A photographic
image, that will be enlarged in ceramic tiles, is overlaid with a transparency which he then prints
a grid in a brick-like pattern on. After organizing and assembling the final image, each square in
the photographic image is chosen and attached to a particle board with high quality clear silicone
glue. He says these works operate on two different yet connected levels. One being from
standing back a little further away, the viewer sees one joint photographic image. When moving
closer, the 344 separate parts are seen. This is an excellent example of a macro, micro piece as it
is meant to be seen from both up close and from afar.
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Image 4. Notkin, Richard. “Richard Notkin.” Artaxis, 2018.

Image 5. Notkin, Richard. “Richard Notkin.” Artaxis, 2018.

Image 6. Notkin, “Richard Notkin.” Artaxis, 2018.

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The third artist I had found was Bacia Edelman. She passed away in 2009 at age 84 with
a lifelong love of clay. She said she was introduced to clay before she was even in kindergarten
by her aunt. Back then the kiln was fired with coal and she attended every Saturday to create
pottery with her aunt. When she was nine years old, her aunt paid for her to take classes at the
Boston Museum for children which were also on Saturdays. The classes she took there were
mostly painting and drawing, however she continued to take classes there until she finished high
school. Eventually clay would play a much bigger role in her life as an artist and be very
influential in her life. She attended art school and taught at the University of Illinois as a
professor in ceramics and then raised three children while still working as much as possible in
her basement studio.
I noticed that a lot of her work had been done in the slab building technique, however she
was not limited to that technique alone. She also threw pieces on the wheel (see image 8), and
assembled different wheel thrown parts together (see image 9). Her firing method seemed to be a
lot of wood firing but also electric fired at about cone six followed by lichen and matte glazes.
How she overall described her work as an artist was, “The work has changed periodically as I
reached corners and had to reinvent myself to emerge from them. Ritual vessels, teapots,
sculpture, textured surfaces in both clay and glaze are what occupy me now. Occasional
invitations to participate in wood fired kilns have directed what types of forms I make,”
(Edelman).
She created a variety of tea kettles and mugs that have unique, untraditional shapes. Each
one is glazed with multiple colors, some with textures, others with a shiny finish (see images 7).
Her pieces are functional but take on a more sculptural appearance in shape. I was really
attracted to the vibrant colors in her work and how she was sort of morphing a known object into
its own unique shape. Her work is in a number of museums including the Asheville Art Museum,
Milwaukee Art Museum, Everson Museum in Syracuse NY, Northern Arizona University Art
Museum and Charles A. Wustum Museum in Racine, WI. Overall, I seemed to be more attracted
to functional ceramic art that take on a different appearance than what is traditionally seen. She
had been involved in dozens upon dozens of shows both internationally and nationally some
being juried exhibitions starting from 1983 all the way until 2007 just two years before her death.
Her grants include Project Grants and Wisconsin Arts Board in 1978, 1979, 1983 and 1987.
Published photos of her work are included in The Craft and Art of Clay, 4th Edition by
Susan Peterson, 500 Pitchers by Lark Books, 500 Teapots by Lark books, 500 Bowls by Lark
Books, Alternative Kilns and Firing Techniques by Lark Books, Making Ceramic Sculpture by
Lark Books, The Contemporary Potter by Rockport Publishers, The Ceramic Design Book by
Lark Books, The Potter’s Professional Handbook by Steve Branfman and Krause Publications,
Handbuild Tableware by Lark Books, Handbuild Ceramics by Lark Books, Clay times (journal)
Vol. 3, No. 1, Five issues of Ceramics Monthly (journal), The Studio Potter (journal) and
Wisconsin Academy Review (journal). It is obvious by this extensive list of publications as well
as the large number of exhibitions she was involved in, that she was a very well-known artist of
her time.
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Image 7. Edelman, Bacia. “Bacia Edelman.” Skynet, 2010.

Image 8. Edelman, Bacia. “Bacia Edelman.” Skynet, 2010.

Image 9. Edelman, Bacia. “Bacia Edelman.” Skynet, 2010.

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Work Cited

Chung, Sam. “Sam Chung.” Artsy, https://www.artsy.net/artist/sam-chung. Accessed 2 Oct.

2018.

Fouts, Russel. “Bacia Edelman.” Skynet, http://users.skynet.be/russel.fouts//bacia.htm.

Accessed 2 Oct. 2018.

Notkin, Richard. “Richard Notkin.” Artaxis, https://artaxis.org/richard-notkin/. Accessed 2 Oct.

2018.