Artist: David Bolton
David Bolton, ILLINOIS
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ARTIST BIO
I come from a working-class family in rural, southern Indiana. My father was a factory worker, who produced “Faultless” casters. His father was a carpenter and a cabinetmaker. My mother worked as a seamstress who learned sewing from her mother. So, I have a respect for the trades and working with one’s hands. I see my family as my first teachers with their strong work ethic, sense of craftsmanship, and their ingenuity with working with available materials. My first exposure to Ceramics as an artform were stamps with Korean celadons on care packages from my grandmother in Korea. My first experience with clay was in high school with my teacher, Don Crane (UE Alumni), who encouraged me to study at the University of Evansville (UE). I strongly resonate with the metaphor of the ceramic vessel and the human body. My undergraduate teacher, Les Miley at UE, made me aware of the references of the human body to pottery. His simple and eloquent use of the words “the foot,” “the lip”,” the shoulder,” and “the belly” taught me how to look at a pot. Jim Lawton, my teacher at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, compared altering his pots with the process of darting clothes. Instead of altering a garment around the human body, the vessel is altered around a conceived volume.
After graduate school I built kilns for Alpine Kilns then worked as the Ceramics and Sculpture Tech at Central Michigan University. Currently I head the Ceramics program at the College of Lake County, where I have taught Ceramics for the past 20 years.
ARTIST STATEMENT
In my work I reference historic patterns such as textile patterns and apply them to the “fabric” of the clay. Often these patterns are tessellations, patterns that repeat and go on and on, only to be met with an edge, a seam then continue in the next panel in a different direction or with a different pattern. Many of these patterns are nostalgic to me, such as paisleys, plaids, checkerboard, hound’s-tooth, and other loud patterns found on American 70s clothing. The patterns are created digitally and then applied to the surface of my pots. The firing from gas reduction to atmospheric firing gives the “fabric” a sense of time and wear.
EDUCATION
1994
MFA in Ceramics from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
1991
BFA in Art from the University of Evansville, Evansville, IN
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2005-Present
Associate Ceramics Professor, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL
1998-2004
North Arts Studio Coordinator (Ceramics & Sculpture Studio Coordinator), Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
• 2024 CLAY: A Ceramics Arts Exhibition (Group Exhibition), The Art Center Highland Park, IL
• 2024 Pattern (Group Exhibition), Anthony Schaller Gallery, Baroda, MI
• 2022 30th Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National, jurors: Jack Troy and Carolanne Currier, Pocono Chapter Award, Lancaster Creative Factory, Lancaster, PA
• 2017 Winter Salon II (Group Exhibition), Cerbera Gallery, Kansas City, MO
• 2017 Cup Show (Group Exhbition), Edwardsville Art Center, Edwardsville, IL
• 2017 CUP: THE INTIMATE OBJECT XIII, (Group Exhibition) Charlie Cummings Gallery, Chapel Hill, NC
• 2017 Valentine’s Day Show (Group Exhibition), AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
• 2016 Midwest Ceramics Invitational (Group Exhibition with Kurt Webb, Stephanie Craig, Todd Leech, Elizabeth Lurie, Missy McCormick, Sean O’Connell, Claire Prenton, Alex Thullen, Julie Woodrow) University of St. Francis, Fort Wayne, IN
• 2016 Hand Crafted, Dowstudio, (Group Exhibition) Deer Isle, ME
• 2016 Yunomi Invitational (Group Exhibition), AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
• 2016 Pop Up Salon (Group Exhibition at NCECA), Cerbera Gallery, Kansas City, MO
• 2016 Lines,Planes,and Patterns: Patterns (Group Exhibition with Katriona Drijber, Sean O’Connell, and Doug Peltzman), AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
• 2015 Expressive & Distinct: work that is unique to the maker (Group exhibition with Bandana Pottery, Mike Helke, Autumn Higgins, Kirk Lyttle, Warren MacKenzie, Sean O’Connell, Tim Rowan, Sam Taylor, and Mark Williams) Anthony Schaller Gallery, St. Joseph, MI
• 2015 Negotiated Relationships (Group Exhibition with Jen Allen, Sean 'Connell, Chandra DeBuse, Justin Lambert, Doug Peltzman, Emily Schroeder Willis, and Kate Biderbost), Ralph Arnold Gallery at Loyola University, Chicago, IL, curators: Mathew Groves and Kate Biderbost
• 2015 Yunomi Invitational (Group Exhibition), AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
• 2015 Pattern and Line, Anthony Schaller Gallery, St. Joseph, MI
• 2015 Serviceability, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL, curator: Ben Bates
• 2015 The Handmade Bourbon Bottle, Quincy Street Distillery, Riverside, IL, curator: Heather Hug
• 2014 The Second Mint Julep Cup Biennial Invitational (Group Exhibition), Mary Anderson Center, curator: Steven Cheek
• 2014 Embellished Surfaces, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL, curator: David Bolton
• 2014 The Cup II, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL, curator: Ben Bates
• 2013 99 Bottles Invitational (Group Exhibition) Crimson Laurel Gallery, Bakersville, NC, curator: Jason Bige Burnett
• 2013 Yunomi Invitational (Group Exhibition), AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
• 2013 Wood Fire Invitational (Group Exhibition), St. Petersburg Clay, St. Petersburg, FL, curator: Matt Schiemann
• 2013 OutPour, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL, curator: Ben Bates
• 2012 30x5: The Desert (Group Exhibition with Dan Anderson, Karl Borgeson, Robert Briscoe, Jason Burnett, Kyle Carpenter, Linda Christianson, Sam Chung, Mark Cole, Michael Connelly, David Crane, Guillermo Cuellar, Bernadette Curran, Delores Fortuna, Julia Galloway, John Glick, Silvie Granatelli, Ryan Greenheck, Mel Griffin, Kenyon Hansen, Meredith Host, Michael Hunt, / Naomi Dalglish, Michael Kline, Simon Levin, Ruchika Madan, Shawn O'Connor, Douglas Peltzman, Brandon Phillips, Stacy Snyder, Liz Zlot Summerfield, Daniel Teran, and Gwendolyn Yoppolo) AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
• 2012 Pattern (Group Exhibition with Teresa A. Cole, Andy Farkas, Bonard Hughins, Martinia Lantin, and Kreh Mellick), Blue Spiral 1 Gallery, Ashville, NC
• 2012 Illinois Ceramic Artists, LillStreet Gallery at Seattle NCECA
• 2012 42nd Annual Ceramics Exhibition, Crossman Gallery University of Wisconsin –Whitewater, curator: Jared Janovec
• 2012 The Cup: 50 Artists, 250 Interpretations, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL, curator: Ben Bates
• 2012 42nd Annual Ceramics Exhibition, Crossman Gallery University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, curators: Jared Janovec
• 2011 4th Annual Lillstreet International: Below the Surface, Chicago, IL, juror: Matthew Metz (Best of Show)
• 2011 Strictly Functional Pottery National, Market House Craft Center, East Petersburg, PA, juror: Mary Barringer
• 2011 Potters Council 2011Exhibition: Shoulders We Stand On, National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) Conference, Tampa, FL, juror: Bill Jones
• 2011 river2river, The Ceramics Center, Cedar Rapids, IA, jurors: Bunny McBride, Jo Ann Schnabel, and Sanjay Jani, Owner and Founder of AKAR Gallery
• 2011 For Tea, Duhbe Carreno Gallery, Chicago, IL, curator: Ben Bates
• 2011 TEA: An Exhibition of Tea Bowls Made by Illinois Artists, McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington IL, curator: Claire Hedden
• 2011 Pattern and Form, (Solo Exhibition) Mary Anderson Center for the Arts at Mount Saint Francis, Mt. St. Francis, IN, curator: Steven Cheek
• 2010 CraftForms 2010: 16th Annual International Juried exhibition of Contemporary Craft, Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA, juror: Jane C. Milosch
• 2010 Third Biennial Concordia Continental Ceramics Competition, Concordia University, Saint Paul, MN, juror: Wil Shynkaruk
• 2010 Second Illinois Teapot Invitational, Millikin University, Decatur, IL, Juror: Jim Schietinger
• 2010 Illinois Artists Show, Lillstreet Gallery, Chicago, IL, curator: Dan Anderson
• 2007 Big Muddy, Clarke College, Dubuque, IA, Jurors: Delores Fortuna and Bill Farrell (Honorable Mention)
• 2004 Post Industrial Romanticism (Exhibition with Dan Anderson, John Goodheart, Hoss Haley, Steve Hanson, Stephen Heywood, Ahmad Sabha, and Susanna Speirs), W.D.O. A Contemporary Craft Gallery, Charlotte, NC
• 2003 Functional Ceramics, (National Invitational with Randy Johnston, Liz Quackenbush, Lee Rexrode, and others), Wooster, OH, curator: Phyllis Blair Clark
• 2002 DinnerWorks, Water Tower, Louisville Arts Association, Louisville, KY, curator: John Guenther
• 2002 Fourteenth San Angelo National Ceramic Competition, Annual Juried Competition and Exhibition, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, TX, juror: Jimmy Clark
• 2001 Feats of Clay XIV, Lincoln Arts & Culture Foundation, Gladding McBean Pottery, Lincoln, CA, juror: Paul McCoy, (Purchase Award)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
• 2016 Falling Rain Yunomi included in image of Matt Schiemann’s cup collection accompanying his article, “It Starts with a Cup” in Ceramics Monthly October 2016
• 2013 Photograph of Bottles featured on cover of Craft Alliance Workshop Schedule, Sept. 28 Workshop Artist, St. Louis, MO
• 2011 Photograph of Paisley Cups featured on the 2011Ceramics Monthly Poster.
• 2011 “Pots Behind the Mask” article published in Ceramics Monthly December 2011
• 2011 Photograph of Pattern Plate Triptych published in Ceramics Monthly September 2011
• 2011 Photograph of Entrapped Ewer published in Ceramics Monthly September 2011
• 2002 500 Teapots, editor: Suzanne J. E. Tourtillott
• 2001 Photograph of Lock Box published in Clay Times November/December 2001
• 2000 Photograph of Locked Stacking Canister published in Ceramics Monthly April 2000
• 1999 Positive review of “Stacking Teapot” in New York Times September 19, 1999
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
• Three Lock Box, Sheldon Swope Art Museum, Terra Haute, IN
• Night Woods Teapot, Vincennes University, Vincennes, IN
• Paisley Vase, Warren-Newport Library, Gurnee, IL
• Abacus, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL
• Paisley Vase, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL
WORKSHOPS
• 2017 Oakton Community College, Workshop Artist, Des Plaines, IL
• 2013 Craft Alliance, Workshop Artist, St. Louis, MO