My Story
I grew up in an artist studio and painting with rocks on my cousins down by a swimming hole. The context of my making is born out of *relationships* and so, for me, art making and education is deeply personal. Clay is my life long collaborator and I say this because it brings several millennia of experience and agency to the moments we collide. To work with clay is about balancing firm but gentle pressure~ firm enough to reshape the planet and gentle enough to listen to it.
My ceramic practice is a triaxial blend between functional wares, figurative sculpture, and ceramic chemistry. I’m often looking for the awkward truths of being human and celebrating the blurry entangled space where I end and you begin.
It is a gift to teach at Wilson because my students and colleagues are also studio mates, equally eager to build a world we wish to live in.
You can find me in the studio, on my bike or foraging along the trails.
Jenn KaplanWhen I don't have the answer, we can figure it out together! I learn as much from the students as they learn from me, maybe more. To be a teacher is to be a student for life.
Education
- BFA, Ceramics with a minor in Art History at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- MFA, Ceramics at the University of Notre Dame
Research Interests
- Figure Sculpture
- Wild Clay Processes
- Foraging
Courses Taught
- Upper Level Ceramics
- Intro to Ceramics
- Intro to Hand Building
Crews and Other Activities
- Ceramics Crew Supervisor
- Board Member of Queer Atmosphere