Matt Kelleher is Associate Professor and Division Chair of Ceramic Art at New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. He joined the faculty in 2015 after a decade of working as a studio potter in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Matt has participated in residencies at Penland School of Crafts, Archie Bray Foundation, Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, and Starworks. As Matt continues to investigate soda-fired tableware, his studio practice has expanded to include larger sculptural ideas.
Pottery is a continuous curiosity; how it’s made, how it feels, its shape, its surface, how it exists in a home as an object, or a tool, or maybe an image. When making pottery, I search for poised forms that suggest sculpture, respect 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 my tendency to put parameters around the work, of what is “good or bad,” I do my best to give the ideas room. It is important to pursue the clues that linger on the periphery of my pottery, which are often sculptural and beyond the scale of tableware. The process each new idea reveals drives me forward.