Category Archives: Pottery

Matthew Ward is a self-taught ceramist. The Brooklyn-based artist comes from an artistic family. His father was a graphic designer and painter and his mother was a photographer. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum School in Boston where he trained in painting and sculpture.  He pulls inspiration from the 1940’s and 50’s, where he sees that the work was simpler and yet had exciting developments. On an article in Glaze Magazine he says this about his work: 

“My work is very pattern oriented I don’t think it’s very complicated… It’s very simple and it’s very relatable. People can get it right away, the forms are very straightforward. I think that was just my appreciation for the minimalist movement in sculpture and in painting just having that reference.”

More of his work can be found on his website and on Instagram.

Images:  Courtesy of Matthew Ward.

Admiring the porcelain and wheel-thrown pottery of ceramist Yukari Kashihara.  The artist was born in Osaka, Japan and from a very young age began her art journey by drawing, sketching and crafting.  In 2003 she received a Master of Fine Arts in ceramics from the University of Missouri-Columbia.  Yukari’s pottery is made from a high-fired porcelain clay and decorated with hand-painted colors.  Her work is delicate and whimsical, inspired by her love of nature. On Marshall News she says this about her work:  

“I try to focus on positiveness,” she said. “If I want to be happy, I should focus on all things positive. If I’m looking at a pothole, that’s where I’ll end up.”

“You make a beautiful bowl, but if you want to go beyond it, you’ve got to break the bowl. You’ve got to cut into it. Do something about it. Don’t just leave it a perfect bowl.’ That’s where this started,” she said, gesturing to the side of the gallery where her master’s project work was displayed.

The artist can be followed here on her website.

Images:  Courtesy of Yukari Kashihara.