Taylor Sijan is a full-time studio artist from Catawba Island, Ohio. She earned a BFA in 3-D Arts from Bowling Green State University (2016), completed two years of post-baccalaureate study in ceramics at Wichita State University (2016-2018), and obtained an MFA with ceramics emphasis from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2021). In 2020, she was recognized as one of Ceramics Monthly’s Emerging Artists for her richly decorated porcelain pottery. Taylor has since taught at institutions including Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft, Peters Valley School of Craft, Gasworks NYC, and Saratoga Clay Arts Center. In 2023, Taylor joined Wooten Clayworks in Hackettstown, NJ as the studio manager and gallery coordinator. Whenever she’s not in the studio, she can usually be found thrifting, gardening, hiking, or spending time with her two cats.
I craft richly decorated, functional pottery. Each piece is a confluence of things I find beautiful–asymmetrical compositions, evocative colors, botanical imagery, and fine details–expressed within the parameters of objects intended for active participation in someone’s life.
Balancing comfortable utility and expressive aesthetics is an interesting challenge to navigate because my pots are designed to be used, but paradoxically, decoration is often a signal to someone to not touch. To get people to overcome this initial cautiousness, I inspire curiosity through complexity and mystery by selectively hiding and/or highlighting the many techniques I use throughout my process. I begin with throwing, altering, and handbuilding to construct soft forms that are then adorned with layered ornamentation. The surface compositions are a collage of contrasting organic and geometric motifs that are painted, slip trailed, carved, and stamped. By weaving raised and recessed methods of mark-making asymmetrically around the vessels, I cultivate visual and tactile appeal to encourage a viewer’s eyes and hands to roam around the form, into the interior, and underneath.