Artist: Christina Bendo
Christina Bendo grew up helping her parents grow food in the rich red clay soil of Virginia and exploring the fields and forest of their property on the Potomac River. It seems a natural progression that she now works in a craft that uses the same raw materials needed to grow food in order to make objects used to serve it. She first became interested in using local clays after digging miocene marine clay where she was living in Virginia, and in 2017 moved to North Carolina to further study raw materials at STARworks Center for Creative Enterprises. Since her transformative time working there, she uses a clay body and slips containing local North Carolina clay, and fires with wood and salt in the tradition of a long line of North Carolina potters in order to further a connection to the geological and human history of place. Her studio is located in downtown Waynesville among the beautiful Smoky Mountains.
“My primary construction tools are the wheel and slab roller. I often throw pieces on the wheel that will be altered and combined with other parts to create more complex forms. My love of ancient pots of the Mediterranean and the Americas informs my shapes. I also produce slab plates and dishes using handmade hump and slump molds. The pots are decorated with flora and fauna observed while hiking, foraging, and studying field guides. My functional vessels, intended for daily use, serve as reminders that all are connected to the earth beneath our feet and the wide range of life it nourishes.”
EDUCATION
University of Mary Washington BA in Studio Art, 2013
WORK AND EXPERIENCE
2018-present
Studio potter in Waynesville, NC
2018
Technical Assistant to Michael Kline, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME
Artist in Residence, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, ME
Production Resident, STARworks Ceramics, Star, NC
Duties include working on three production lines for outside clients, maintaining quality control, packing and shipping product
2017
Artist in Residence, North Carolina Pottery Center, Seagrove, NC
Salad Days Artist in Residence, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, ME
Artist in Residence, STARworks Ceramics, Star, NC
2016
Fall/Winter Artist in Residence, International Ceramics Studio, Kesckemet, Hungary
2015-2020
Emerging Artist and Assistant at Pottery on the Hill, Washington, D.C.
2014-2016
Artist in Residence, LibertyTown Arts Workshop, Fredericksburg, Va
2013-2016
Production studio assistant at Sophia Street Studios to potter Trista Chapman, Fredericksburg, VA
2013-2014
Pottery studio technician, LibertyTown Arts Workshop, Fredericksburg, VA
EXHIBITIONS
2020
“Studio Tour Exhibit”, Haywood Arts Council Gallery, Waynesville, NC
“Across the Pond and Back Again: Making, Training, and Influence”, Virtual exhibition concurrent with NCECA
“Origins: UMW Ceramics Faculty and Alumni”, DuPont Gallery, Fredericksburg, VA
“New Members Show 2020”, Piedmont Craftsmen’s Guild online exhibition
2018
“Tabletop”, The Art League, Alexandria, VA
“Working Pots III”, James May Gallery, Algoma, WA
2017
“Juncture”, STARworks Center for Creative Enterprises, Star, NC
2016
“We Are All in This Together”, Kapolna Gallery, ICS, Kecskemet, Hungary
“Common Ground: A Collaboration 17 Million Years in the Making”, with artist David Wold, LibertyTown Arts Workshop, Fredericksburg, Va
“Verses to Visions”, Water Street Studio, Fredericksburg, Va
“Patron's Show”, LibertyTown Arts Workshop, Fredericksburg, VA
2015
“Small Favors X”, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
“Memory Takes Flight”, a solo exhibition at LibertyTown Arts Workshop, Fredericksburg, VA
“Patron's Show”, LibertyTown Arts Workshop, Fredericksburg, VA
“Feast For the Eyes”, LibertyTown Arts Workshop, Fredericksburg, VA
2014
“Small Works Exhibition”, LibertyTown Arts Workshop, Fredericksburg, VA
“6 x 6 x 6, Annual Juried Exhibition”, LibertyTown Arts Workshop, Fredericksburg, VA
“Patron's Show”, LibertyTown Arts Workshop, Fredericksburg, VA
GALLERY REPRESENTATION
Piedmont Craftsmen Gallery, Winston-Salem, NC
Twigs and Leaves Gallery, Waynesville, NC
Woodlands Gallery, Hendersonville, NC
Schoolhouse Gallery at STARworks, Star, NC
Libertytown Arts Workshop, Fredericksburg, VA