Red Lodge Clay Center – Short-Term Resident (ASPN) 2025
Alex Okenfuss makes ceramic objects that acknowledge technology as an inseparable part of our existence, exploring the tension between the physical and digital to question perception and reality. His work is primarily created through hand-building lattice-like structures and patterns or utilizing digital fabrication and slip casting.
Freshly graduated, he works out of his basement, where he continually pushes new ideas, forms, and processes to expand his ideas in clay. Okenfuss was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He studied at St. Louis Community College, where he earned his associate degree, before receiving a BFA from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
“My work navigates the tension between the physical and the digital, questioning the very nature of perception and reality. Does the digital represent the real, or does the real inform the digital? I think neither is more or less real—they constantly inform each other in a feedback loop, blurring the boundaries between tangible and intangible experiences.
As a ceramic artist, I am drawn to the inherently tactile nature of clay, as well as the opportunity to push the boundaries of the medium. Some elements of my work are shaped almost entirely by hand through pinching, pulling, or slap-like motions, while others bear no trace of human touch, created instead through molds or digital fabrication methods like CNC or 3D printing. This duality reflects the central theme of my practice: the illusion of perception. The physical and digital worlds are not separate but intertwined, each influencing the other in ways we may not always perceive.
In a broader context, I strongly believe the ceramics field itself reflects this plurality. While artists address diverse topics like politics, identity, and social issues, one unifying thread is the use of technology. By engaging with or avoiding the role of technology in my work, I explore the idea of breaking free from the “feedback loop”—the constant recycling of ideas between the physical and digital realms.
Ultimately, my work is not about debating whether technology is real or fake, but about acknowledging that it is an inseparable part of our existence. My ceramic practice mimics this loop, as the processes I use—whether manual or digital—reflect how the tangible and intangible are part of the same experience.
Through my work, I aim to provoke viewers to question their own perceptions. What is the nature of their experience? Where do they fall within the feedback loop of the real and the digital? By contemplating these questions, we can begin to break free from imposed paradigms and embrace the fluidity of reality.” -Okenfuss