Presented in advance of The Bascom’s celebrated 2026 Clay Symposium, this exhibition brings together work by Andrew Godfrey Shaw, Alexander Thierry, and Tiffany Thomas, offering an in-depth look at three contemporary voices shaping the field of ceramics today. This exhibition introduces audiences to the artistic perspectives and material investigations that will later animate the symposium’s demonstrations and dialogue, scheduled for September 26.
Together, these works illuminate ceramics as a practice grounded in material knowledge yet continually expanding toward conceptual, experiential, and community-centered horizons. Visitors will encounter a diverse spectrum of approaches: Shaw’s refined forms shaped by decades of research and artistic exchange; Thierry’s probing investigations of memory and impermanence; and Thomas’s relational practice that bridges clay, storytelling, and participatory experience. Seen collectively, their work showcases the depth and versatility of contemporary ceramic expression.
Andrew Godfrey Shaw
Andrew Godfrey Shaw’s career spans significant academic leadership, international residencies, and a deep commitment to exploring form, process, and utility. Now a Teaching Assistant Professor of Ceramics at East Carolina University, Shaw previously taught for sixteen years at Louisiana State University, where he directed the ceramics program and shaped collaborative initiatives that connected artists across institutions and countries. His work, held in major collections including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, reflects a disciplined approach to craft grounded in both tradition and conceptual inquiry. Each piece demonstrates his interest in systems of making, the refinement of form, and the ways ceramics can respond to cultural context.
Alexander Thierry
Alexander Thierry’s practice examines memory as an evolving and uncertain terrain. Drawing on the shifting physical states of clay, from temporary to permanent, Thierry creates objects and installations that parallel the fragility and persistence of remembrance. His use of processes such as slaking, screen printing, digital fabrication, and plant cultivation reflects an expansive view of material investigation. By allowing clay to interact with a range of other materials and technologies, Thierry exposes the tensions between what is held, what is lost, and what changes with time. His work invites viewers to consider how memory shapes relationships and how space itself becomes charged with emotional resonance.
Tiffany Thomas
Tiffany Thomas’s studio practice bridges ceramics, zines, and community-based projects, exploring themes of longing, belonging, and shared experience. Central to her work is The Love Project, an interactive installation in which participants reflect on the meaning of love while shaping clay in conversation with one another. Thomas’s career includes solo exhibitions at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, Neema Gallery in Charleston, and Francis Marion University, among many others. Through both functional forms and participatory installations, she demonstrates clay’s capacity to create connection, inviting audiences to engage with the medium not only visually, but emotionally and communally.
