Red Lodge Clay Center – Short-Term Resident (AIA) 2018
Megan Sprenger grew up in a small town in Northern Wisconsin. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art with and emphasis in Ceramics and Sculpture from the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2016. Currently, Megan is an MFA candidate at Montana State University. Her work is inspired by her love for traveling combined with the history of ceramics and the progression of urban development in comparison to personal development. She interweaves the human psyche and the ideology of ceramics into her work. The work is stripped of context and rationalization and conveying it through imagery and form. The use of historical ideology within ceramics is incorporated to introduce a more modern theme and encourage on conversation between the ceramic vessel and the viewer.
The internal and external growth of humans is shaped by the spaces where we live and breathe. My engagement is rooted in the dialog between human development and the development of a city as a mirrored and collective subconscious communication. The detailed maps, diagrams, and abstracted drawings on the surface of my porcelain objects are reflections on internal growth through relationship with the external world. I see this development of the individual as a mirrored experience connected to place. My interest in urban design stems from the idea of independence as well as mutual development of both the city and the self. Ultimately, I see this development of the individuals to the city as being a sotto biological organism rather than a cog in a machine. I have found great inspiration looking back to my time in Turkey, more precisely Istanbul. One place that left a lasting impact on me was the Hagia Sophia.
Within the Hagia Sophia, there was an interesting juxtaposition of the layers exposed, scaffolding being used to uncover as well as restore the building. There is a beauty to the chaos that is happening within the space. Crowds of people gawked at the immensity of the place where they stood, possibly even contemplating their own insignificance. There are so many different materials used, but one thing stands out — the fragility of how the scaffolding looked. At times, it was as if the only thing supporting the parts of the interior were the intrinsic structures of the scaffolding. Layering through symbolism and metaphors has since become a jumping off point for me. We grow both externally and internally through the influence of the spaces where we reside.