K A T I E S T O N E
“I don’t always feel beautiful,
but I always feel human,
and maybe that’s my problem.”
Born in rural Connecticut, I received my Bachelors of Fine Arts in Ceramics at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland in 2014. Since graduation, I have been pursuing my artist career as ceramic sculptor. Upon my first year following my bachelors degree, I was nominated as a Regina Brown Fellow from National Council on Education of Ceramic Arts as the future of the field. This grant allowed me to pursue a year long artist in residency program at Medalta Potteries, based in Medicine Hat, Alberta Canada. I spent this year preparing for a solo show and working as a production casting assistant as a part of Medalta's museum. After my program came to an end, I found myself based in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania as Studio Director at Stray Cat Studio. Currently I am pursuing my sculpting career while being an educator and mentor for the Mid Atlantic ceramics community.
Growing up in the horse and livestock industry, studying and replicating animal form has been a life-long passion, and slight obsession for me. Focused on the human animal experience in every day life and fueled from my personal history, my work is an exploration of dialogue between the two. Through years of moving from place to place, each region is a new ballad with the same characters. Interconnected, man and animal are at play and at war with one another. These moments become souvenirs for a collaborative conversation. Animal forms interact with reclaimed scrap through my compiled sculptures. There is a quiet dialog between animal and the industrial object. This pairing is a retrospective of our influence as a species on the world around us. Through sculpting, cutting, using found materials, and then combining these collection of images in clay, I create what one would call a cross section of a narrative based on “back road life.”
Using the technique of solid building, my animal and human sculptures start out as hundred to thousand pound blocks of clay. They are then carved subtractively into their forms before being hollowed out and pieced back together. The sculptures are cut to pieces depending on the size of doorways and kilns available. They are then fired below mature temperature to avoid too much warping, and are then epoxied together. The seams are sanded and the animals painted with watercolor, gouache, and wax.
N O T E D E X H I B I T I O N S & A W A R D S
"The Gist Street International Ceramics Bash” March 2018, James Simon Gallery. Pittsburgh, PA.
“The Rust Belt Invitational” November - January 2017/18, Standard Ceramics. Carnegie, PA.
“Workhouse Clay International 2017” August - October 2017, Workhouse Arts Center. Lorton, VA.
“Drawn From Nature” April 2017, Audubon Society. Greater Philadelphia, PA.
"Nature: Surface, Form, Content" February - March 2017, The Clay Studio. Missoula, MT.
“Open-ended” January - March 2017, Hygienic Art. New London, CT.
"Menagerie" May - July 2016, Baltimore Clayworks. Baltimore, MD
"Living West" May - August 2015, Medalta Potteries. Alberta, Canada.
“2015 Young Talent” January - April 2015, Washington Art Association. Washington, CT.
2018, Emerging Artist of Pittsburgh Nomination
2017, Craftsman Guild of Pittsburgh Acceptance
2017, Audubon Society Nature Award
2016, Pittsburgh Society of Artists Acceptance
2014, National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, Regina Brown Fellowship.
2014, Ceramic Windgate Fellowship Nominee.
Contact
[email protected]
www.instagram.com/theclaypony/