Studio Talk with Chris Gustin

Chris Gustin
On View February 29 – April 26, 2020
Reception: Saturday, March 28 4pm-6pm
McGuireWoods Gallery

Artist Statement

I am interested in pottery that make connections to the human figure. The figurative analogies used to describe pots throughout history all in some way invite touch. The pots that I respond to all speak of a clear, direct sense of the hand. The hand is celebrated in the work by its maker, whether it is that of a fifteenth century rural potter or a nineteenth century court artisan. And it becomes a necessary tool for the user in understanding the relationship of the object to its function, and subsequently, to how that object informs ones life.

Making tile is a way for me to connect to the basics of functional ceramics and to touch the roots of utilitarian clay. My studio work over the years has moved away from an interest in function and utility to an interest in sculptural form. Yet the desire to make things that function in our daily lives still resonates deeply within me. I have found that this “need” is indeed quite strong, and over the years I have occasionally fed it by making simple objects for daily use; the cup, the bowl, the plate.

Chris Gustin was formerly Associate Professor of Ceramics and the senior faculty of the ceramics program at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. After twenty years of teaching and working with hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students, he retired from academia in 1999 to devote full time and energies to his studio work and tile production company.

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Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod
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