Blending Functional With Sculptural
- ClayArts Vegas
- May 14
- 2 min read
Join us for a weekend of making with Wesley Brown
June 6 & 7 2027
Raised in Ohio, Brown completed his schooling around the Midwest receiving an Associates from Sinclair Community College, BFA from Bowling Green State University, and an MFA from Indiana University. While in school Brown studies ceramics with West Virginia University in Jingdezhen China, Daniel Johnston in Seagroves, NC, and Mark Goertzen in Goshen, IN.Since graduating Brown and his wife have lived in 4 different states as he has continued to make work and teach. They currently reside in State College, PA where Brown has accepted an Assistant Professorship at Penn State University-University Park beginning in Fall 2023.
Wesley Brown: Through clay vessels I explore the concept of identity as the bringing together of varied experiences into a useful story. Using the vessel as a medium I work on soft clay in two distinctly different ways. The potter’s wheel with its smooth circular movement creates pieces that are rhythmic, refined, and smooth. This method of making is contrasted with my hand-built slabs on which I exert force to create heavily textured surfaces where every action is recorded. The different parts are allowed to firm before being cut and seated one into the other. Using improvisation and intuition, I unite the two techniques to create a new composition. I make no attempt to reconcile the distinctly different surfaces when crafting the vessel allowing the surfaces to speak to their history of handling. I reclaim the stiff castoff clay to fill gaps and complete the form. By recycling materials, I am affirming the idea that you can only give from the resources you have. And finally I cloak the piece in the color black so as to reduce it to silhouette at a distance. The many details of its surface and formation only visible to the close observer. The process is complete when composition is cohesive and the many storied surfaces are unified into a vessel that can now serve a purpose
Wesley Brown: “I act upon the clay to create works that embody struggle and triumph “
Wesley Brown: "I make ceramic sculptures to convey ideas of time, struggle, and triumph. I make sculpture because I find it challenging and it allows me to bring my own physicality forward in my making process."
Interview with Wesley Brown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoT76XeuHsI
Wesley Brown: "Clay is an amazing recorder of touch so when I first began I knew that it was up to me to learn how to manipulate it. And it was that accessibility and challenge that drew me."
Join us for a weekend of Clay, Community, and learning - June 6 & 7.
Saturday June 6
10am - 4 pm
Sunday June 7
10am - 4pm
What you need:
Your Favorite Tools
Wooden Paddle
Laguna LC5/Black Horse
Large Sponges - 3 (personal)
Extra Plastic (we have some)
Ware-boards (personal)
Banding Wheel (we have some)
We look forward to seeing you!
