For just over a year, Pottery@Brown has hosted pottery and ceramics workshops on campus — but this semester, the group has collaborated with the Brown Arts Institute to showcase roughly a dozen student works.
Pottery@Brown’s inaugural exhibit, ‘Sculpting our Presence,’ is on display from Jan. 26 to Feb. 22 in the Lindemann Performing Arts Center, featuring works from a number of student artists.
For Naja Woodard ’27, an events officer for Pottery@Brown, the exhibition’s title represents the artists “sculpting or carving out a place for themselves in the world and forming their own identity separate from those things going on around them.”
Many of the artists drew inspiration from their familial and cultural backgrounds when developing their pieces, Woodard said. Through their pieces, the artists formed an “identity within the landscape of their families, the countries they’ve come from (and) the political events going on throughout their lives.”
“What is on view now is just a small sampling of the creative output that has come from Pottery@Brown members,” Senior Director of Administration and Operations for the BAI Chira DelSesto wrote in an email to The Herald.
BAI previously provided funding to help launch the club, DelSesto said, adding that it “just made sense” for the institute to help exhibit the club’s work.
“This group of students has been amazing to work with –– they are organized, thoughtful and so, so talented, as you can see when you visit the exhibition,” she wrote.
Jolin Zheng RISD’28, one of the club’s media officers, said that many of the submitted pieces reflected on a “personal connection with either clay or their identity.”
Noah Matsunaga ’29 — who helps manage studios used by Pottery@Brown — has two sculptures on display. His piece, “Stitched,” depicts a human heart to explore the “amalgamation of cultures” that comprise his identity, according to an artist statement. Drawing on various textile traditions, his piece juxtaposes his American upbringing with a broader range of experiences.
“I was kind of talking about the ways in which different ethnic backgrounds and my upbringing in America were stitched together into who I am,” Matsunaga said.
His other piece, “Anchor,” is a sandy porcelain vase with a white matte glaze. On the vessel’s exterior, viewers can notice a light anchor motif echoed by “the transition between curves, straight lines and points,” he wrote in an artist statement.
Ronan Carolan ’29, a member of Pottery@Brown leadership, also has two ceramics on display. The first is “Flora,” a pearlescent bowl that aims to “capture the essence of a flower,” according to its accompanying plaque.
“I made it for Mother’s Day for my mom,” Carolan explained, adding that the colorful project allowed him to “experiment with a lot of different glazes.”
Carolan’s other piece, “Dirty Dishes,” is composed of three bowls and two mugs melded into one. According to its accompanying artist statement, the work explores the way that organic forms “merge fluidly with one another while retaining their individual curves.”
On Feb. 22, Pottery@Brown and the BAI will host a closing reception from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Lindemann’s Nelson Atwater Lobby.
“There is a strong presence of art on campus,” Carolan said. “I think this exhibit has been a great way for people to kind of get out there and show some of the work that they might not be able to before.”
Kendra Eastep is also a senior staff writer covering arts and culture.
