Matthew Metz (b. 1961) is a ceramic artist living and working in Alfred, NY. His pots are created from porcelain or a porcelainous clay body, salt glazed and fired in either gas, wood or electric kilns. His influences include Asian pottery traditions, Greek and Roman pots, early American decorative arts (quilts, face jugs) and other folk traditions.
Metz uses a variety of techniques in developing the surfaces of his pots including carving, drawing, and sprigging. Though using a variety of traditional techniques, he creates very contemporary surfaces having developed a vocabulary of images that he uses regularly that are both representational and abstract and deeply personal to him. Metz creates a narrative on the surface of his pieces allowing the viewer to tell their own story.
Metz received his B.F.A. from Ball State University and his M.F.A. from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. He has been a guest lecturer and teacher throughout the country and his work can be found in the Arkansas Arts Center, Minneapolis Institute for the Arts, and the Archie Bray Foundation.
