Jessica Brandl is an American contemporary ceramics artist of Midwestern origins. She holds an MFA in Ceramics from The Ohio State University and a BFA in Ceramics and Art History from The Kansas City Art Institute. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including “Hazard” hosted by Crane Yard Gallery, “Grounded” hosted by Alberta University of the Arts in Alberta Canada, “Unconventional Clay: Engaged in Change”, NCECA Biannual invitational, hosted at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. In 2015 she was award NCECA’s international residency at c.r.e.t.a.r. Rome, and also received a McKnight Artist Fellowship from the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis Minnesota. Her most recent work investigates the vessel as canvas and sculptural diorama.
Jessica resides in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where she is an Assistant Professor at Western Michigan University.
My contributions in clay mark time spent considering the visual elements that represent western culture and American-ness. Utilization of the vanitas, the art historic method for representation that imbeds the transience of life, underscoring the temporariness of pleasure and the certainty of death; is deeply important to the underlying intention of what I make and why. Through the various functional and sculptural works, I can work through complex emotions and find peace. I feel most honest when I reference the brands and popular culture of my childhood memory, those previous experiences describe and capture fundamental elements of American culture but also create a tableau of an economic, gender, and regionally specific identity. The advantage of this symbolic language is that I feel safe in asking tough questions to an anonymous audience, the result is a kind of consensus answer that helps me to feel relevant and not alone in my humanity.