Steven Branfman:

Fifty Years

Above The Wheel



February 16 - May 4, 2025

Reception: February 16, 2025, 1:00-4:00pm

Gallery Talk 2pm

When did you know you were an artist?

As an art student I was never so presumptuous as to call myself an artist. There was never a conscious decision to do art or to become an artist. It’s not the kind of activity one decides to do. It's more like something that gets done because it has to. It wasn't until graduate school when I thought that I might be an artist.

Was there a pivotal moment for you?

Three life changing events during my education; my high school sculpture class, my two undergraduate mentors, and my mentor in grad school.

What is your favorite medium?

Clay

Can you describe your process?

My choice of shapes and the wheel throwing methods I use to form my vessels have to do with the concept that pottery forms have a volume and an inward pressure that defines the shape. Pots are formed from the inside out and the bottom up with the interior negative space defining the outward appearance. My surfaces further help to define the shape with textures that expand and grow with the shape during the forming process.

I don't see the surface of my pots as canvases that sit on the surface to decorate, but rather as a skin that communicates what's underneath. Raku is a firing practice that offers the best of all worlds for me. The method is deeply rooted in tradition and I approach it with the utmost respect for the technique and its origins. And while its origins serve as a constant reminder to me of where the craft has evolved from, its contemporary incarnation is very different. So, I can work simultaneously in a traditional method where all the rules have been established, and a contemporary technique where the rules are constantly in question.

Raku firing is fast by its design and spontaneous by my nature. When the piece is ready to be taken from the kiln there is a lot of chaotic looking activity for a very short time. It does, however, require exacting cooperation between myself, my equipment, my assistants and the fire. Though there is always a degree of surprise, the success of the work depends on my ability to command and predict the variables of material and fire. It is like a dance that when choreographed well flows into a statement of beauty.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know about your work?

My vessel forms have matured in concert with my personal aesthetic vision. Integral to the development of successful and satisfying shapes is the importance of their surfaces and how those surfaces contribute to the understanding, interpretation and significance of the finished ware.

To this end, my pots often have distorted surfaces that are highly textured or carved. The incorporation of dry clay applications, grog, sand and glass into the surfaces are also techniques that have contributed to the aesthetic growth of my wares. Efforts to achieve mastery of a palette of glazes is a challenge that in and of itself leads to discoveries of color, texture, surface and form.