Emerging Artists 2018

The Clay Studio is dedicated to supporting artists at all stages in their artistic journeys. Here, in our Bonovitz Gallery, we are proud to introduce the work of three young artists from around the country. This inaugural exhibition will become an annual call for emerging artists to receive an exhibition and showcase their talents at The Clay Studio.

Amanda Dobbratz earned an MA in Creative Practive from The Glasgow School of Art in Glasgow, UK, after her BFA in Studio Art from the University of Wisconsin­­–Stout. Amanda’s surface patterning and color palette are inspired by the desert landscape, body ornamentation, and historical textiles. A sense of studied casualness and play is contrasted by lumpy fingerprints and crisp sgraffito lines.

Justin Donofrio grew up in Santa Cruz, CA where he was introduced to pottery at Cabrillo Community College. He then joined the vibrant Colorado community of artists, eventually earning his BFA from Colorado State University Fort Collins in 2016. Justin uses functional pottery to examine questions about our relationship with objects. The intersections and overlaps represent his contemplation of the dynamic relationship between materiality and landscape and our attempt to control it.

Originally from Austin, Texas, Nick Weddell earned his BFA in Ceramics from Texas State University in 2016 and currently attends the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Weddell’s work revolts against the borders of what is possible with ceramic material. “I wish to study what is feasible and transcend it, resulting in a marriage of surface, form, and color that defies expectation and familiarity. Through my research I have found that there is no hard line between clay and glaze, pottery and sculpture, and surface and form.”

Chartreuse is defined as halfway between yellow and green. Similar to chartreuse, each emerging artist vacillates between material and immaterial. Their forms provide a fresh insight into the properties of color and the limitations of glaze. Each palette is unique and bound by the minerals used. Working towards a theory of ceramic colors, each emerging artist was chosen as their practices represent an arpeggio of the color wheel.