Matt Kelleher is currently a working potter in Madison County, found in the mountains of western North Carolina. In 2005-2008, he made the decision to leave teaching ceramics and pursue full-time studio work through a residency at Penland School of Crafts. Matt has also been artist in residence at Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, MT (1999-2001) and Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Shigaraki, Japan (2003). As Matt continues a 15-year investigation of soda-fired tableware, he has broadened his interests to include sculptural vessels, bird inspired forms, and collaborative work with Shoko Teruyama.
Everyday, at some moment, I think about pottery; how it’s made, how it feels, it’s shape, it’s surface, how it exists in a home as object, tool, or image. When making pottery, I search for poised forms that suggest utility and perform well; they should be confident and handsome.
I create my surfaces for contemplation. Moods are suggested with warmth, fluidity, and translucency. Atmospheres are veiled with fog and cool mist. Pouring and layering slip, I respond intuitively to the qualities of liquid.
Slip warms up during the firing, the surface dampens and layering is revealed. The relationship between form, firing, and my hand is complete. Each piece is ready for a conversation and willing to be part of a greater surrounding.
Aware of parameters I put around my work, of what should and should not be made, I do my best to get out of the way. It is important for me to pursue the ideas that linger around my pottery, which are often sculptural and beyond the scale of tableware. The process each new idea demands drives me forward.