Artist talk with Joey Sheehan

Please join us for an artist talk with Joey Sheehan. 

About the artist

I began my explorations in clay over 20 years ago and was immediately captivated by the material and the wheel.  The realization that I could create something beautiful and useful at the same time was profoundly invigorating.  As I began to grasp the concepts of making and form, my interest fell more into surface and color.  I use textural porcelain slips and layered glazes to create bright, flowing, and volatile surfaces.  As I have grown and matured in life, my work has followed.  I am still fascinated by glaze and surface, but with a higher understanding of form and flow.  I am deeply influenced by classical shapes and why and how they were made.  I attempt to embrace these studied forms but with a contemporary twist.  In my current method of firing in a large two chamber wood kiln as well as a newly built gas “car” kiln, I am exploring the interaction between form and fire; building a relationship in each piece between  function, the surface of the pot, and the story of the firing process.  I have also been pushing my own limits of making and firing with large scale figurative and abstract sculpture.  These pieces present challenges in making, moving, and firing; ensuring that I am constantly studying and learning.  Each piece is made and placed conscientiously in the kiln with expectation and openness.  A desire for success, and a pupil’s acceptance of result. - Joey Sheehan