Artist: Gwendolyn Yoppolo
Gwendolyn Yoppolo, PENNSYLVANIA
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artist statement
To be held in the hands or touched to the lips, these are intimate objects. The forms I make engage the threshold of subjectivity by offering a conduit for nourishment into the body or between bodies. The experience is more than visceral, as the body’s pursuit of sensual experience is tied into the process of making existence meaningful on all levels. How we choose to feed ourselves and others is connected not only to our sensations of hunger and gratification, but also to our deeper perceptions of ourselves, and of the larger stories we live by.
Making utensils enables me to dwell in the moment of appetite, where the anticipation of satiation moves the body through the world of materials towards the consumable. It is a movement driven by desire and guided by memory, by ancestry, and by our sense of self. A utensil extends the body and transforms the energy of this movement into purposeful action. The verbs of the kitchen are not only the processes of food preparation – grind, separate, mix, ream, drain, heat – they are also metaphors for our internal processes of combustion and transformation.
The moment of consumption also transcends bodily experience, invoking our senses of culture, body image, emotion, and relational identity. By making visible those layers of meaning that reside in a food event, the forms I create arouse the physical and nonphysical faculties and extend our understanding of significance. A service designed for a dining ritual can shift the perceptual horizons through which we comprehend food as nourishment, and nourishment as relationship.
The pieces I make are questions, and they remain open-ended until fulfilled through use. My work makes tangible my intentions, and aims towards the receptivity of your attention. Through a minimalist design that attracts the quiet eye and responsive touch, my forms invite you to access your own silence, listening into the echoes of my gestures to your own resonance and response.
education
MFA, Ceramics Penn State University
Fellowship, Writing Education PA Writing and Literature Project
MA, Elementary Education Teachers College, Columbia University
BA, Sociology Haverford College
professional experience
2016- Assistant Professor of Ceramics, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
2014-20 Founding Member/Officer in National Organization: Objective Clay
2016 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia
2014-16 Managing Director, Creative Hobbies Wholesale Ceramic Supply
2014 Lecturer, Ohio State University; Columbus, OH
2013 Visiting Adjunct Professor, Ohio University; Athens, OH
2011-2013 Artist in Residence, Penland School of Crafts; Penland, NC
2011 Artist in Residence Fellowship Award, Anderson Ranch Arts Center
2008-2010 Lincoln Fellow Artist in Residence, The Archie Bray Foundation; Helena, MT
2009 Adjunct Professor of Ceramics, Carroll College; Helena, MT
2007-2008 Temporary Ceramic Technician, Alfred University; Alfred, NY
2006 - 2007 Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Art, Juniata College; Huntingdon, PA
2004-2006 Teaching/Technical assistantships, Penn State University
2002-2004 Studio Technician, Eastern Kentucky University; Richmond, KY
solo exhibitions
2022 Digital Debut, Belger Arts Center, Kansas City, MO
2021 Featured Artist, Artaxis (www.artaxis.org)
2019 Featured Artist, Objective Clay (www.objectiveclay.com)
2018 Featured Artist, Signature Contemporary Craft, Atlanta, GA
2017 holding forth, The Clay Studio of Philadelphia, PA
2013 feed/back, at Trisolini Gallery; Ohio University
2013 Featured Artist, Crimson Laurel Gallery, NC
2011 Featured Artist, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
2010 Featured Artist, Vessels Gallery, Boston, MA
2009 linger, at The Clay Studio of Missoula, MT
competitive exhibitions
2017 Best of Functional Award, Zanesville Prize for Contemporary Ceramics
2010 Bellevue Arts Museum Biennial 2010: Clay Throwdown, Bellevue, WA
2-3 person and select small group exhibitions
2020 John Domenico and gwendolyn yoppolo, Plinth Gallery, Denver, CO
Objective Clay Holiday Exhibition, online
2019 Objective Clay Holiday Exhibition, online
Full of Appetite: Lisa Orr and gwendolyn yoppolo, Saratoga Clay Art Center
Invitational Group Show, Philadelphia Potters Urban Studio Tour,
Objective Clay at the Expo, NCECA, Minneapolis, MN
2018 Objective Clay at the Expo, NCECA, Pittsburgh, PA
Old Church Pottery Show Invitational, The Art School at Old Church, Demarest, NJ
Objective Clay Holiday Exhibition, online
2017 Visiting Artist Exhibition, Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT
Objective Clay at the Expo, NCECA, Portland, OR
Objective Clay Holiday Exhibition, online
Objective Clay at the Beach, MT Burton Gallery, NJ
2016 Objective Clay Holiday Exhibition, online
Objective Clay Group Exhibition, The Knauer Gallery at West Chester University, PA
2015 Objective Clay Holiday Exhibition, online
Three Person Show, Andrews Gallery, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA
2013 cup and plate at knife and fork, Knife and Fork Restaurant, NC
2012 Cup of the Month Club, Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, ME
2011 The Barns Resident Artist Exhibition, Penland School, Penland, NC
In Pursuit of Porcelain, Ferrin Gallery; Pittsfield, MA
Queens of Confection, NCECA, Tampa, FL
2010 Surface + Form, FUNKe Fired Arts, Cincinnati, OH
Ferrin Gallery at SOFA Chicago
Fellowship Exhibition, Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT
New Wave Studio Ceramics, Kansas State University; KS
Re/Objectification, Ferrin Gallery; MA
Dallas Pottery Invitational, Dallas, TX
Consonance: Recent Work by Charity Davis-Woodard and gwendolyn yoppolo, Santa Fe Clay, NM
Archie Bray at Kolva-Sullivan. Kolva-Sullivan Gallery, Spokane, WA
A Useable Feast, Noble Cookery, Philadelphia, PA
Soft Pots, Philadelphia, PA
2009 Studio Pottery Invitational; Ferrin Gallery; MA
Anticipation: New Work, Solo Show at Red Star Studios
Archie Bray at the Kolva-Sullivan Gallery; Spokane, WA
Teapots: Interpretations. Ferrin Gallery; MA
Resident Artist Exhibition, Archie Bray Foundation; MT
2008 Archie Bray Resident Artist Exhibition, NCECA; Phoenix, AZ
Resident Artist Exhibition, The Archie Bray Foundation; Helena, MT
First Friday Opening, Manifest Gallery; Philadelphia, PA
2007 Fresh Hands. Red Star Studios, MO
Opposites Attract. Baltimore Clayworks; Baltimore, MD
invitational exhibitions
2021 Yunomi Invitational, ClayAKAR, Iowa City, IA
Cup V Show, Goggleworks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA
Dirty South Cup Show Friends of the Juror Invitational, Alexandria, LA
Above Board Tableware exhibition, online to coincide with NCECA
2020 Women Working With Clay Invitational, Roanoke, VA [postponed to 2021]
What Makes a Potter Exhibition, American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA), Pomona, CA [postponed to 2021]
Invitational Group Show, Dirty South Cup Show, Alexandria, LA [postponed]
Yunomi Invitational, ClayAKAR, Iowa City, IA
2019 National Invitational Exhibition, Red Lodge Clay Center, Red Lodge, MT
Invitational Cup Show, Hudgens Center, Duluth, GA
Invitational Group Show, Dirty South Cup Show, Alexandria, LA
Hot Clay Faculty Show, Idyllwild Arts, Idyllwild, CA
2018 Critical Function Invitational, Frame and Jask Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
SuperMud / FutureMud Invitational, Union Project Space, Pittsburgh, PA
GrowlerFest Invitational, Brew House Association, Pittsburgh, PA
code:craft Invitational, dowstudio, Deer Isle, ME
La Mesa Invitational Exhibition, Santa Fe Clay
2017 Invitational Cups Show, Santa Fe Clay, NM
Zanesville Prize for Contemporary Ceramics Exhibition, Zanesville, OH
Cupful, Cedar Creek Gallery, NC
La Mesa, Santa Fe Clay, Portland, OR
2016 Chemical Addiction-Exemplary Ceramic Surfaces from the Rosenfield Collection, Harvard Ceramics
Faculty Biennial, Kutztown University
La Mesa, Santa Fe Clay, Kansas City, MO
100 Artists 1000 Cups, The Clay Studio at NCECA, Kansas City, MO
Cupful: Celebrating the Daily Ritual, Cedar Creek Gallery, NC
Across the Table at NCECA, Kansas City, MO
11th Season, dowstudio, Deer Isle, ME
Ways of Making Invitational, Goggleworks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA
Utilitarian Clay Past Presenter’s Exhibition, Arrowmont, Gatlinburg, TN
Archie Bray Cup Auction, Helena, MT
Salad Days, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, ME
2015 La Mesa, Santa Fe Clay, Providence, RI
Works from the Permanent Collection, University of Arkansas, Little Rock
Cups: Hundreds of Cups! Santa Fe Clay, Santa Fe, NM
Taboo: Sexuality and Sexual Identity in Ceramics, Signature Contemporary Craft
Get the Scoop, Pottery Northwest, Seattle, WA
Serviceability, Robert T. Wright Gallery, Grayslake, IL
Yunomi Invitational, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
2014 American Pottery Festival, Northern Clay Center, MN
La Mesa, Santa Fe Clay, Milwaukee NCECA
Cups II, Robert T. Wright Gallery, Grayslake, IL
8 Fluid Ounces, Glassell Gallery at LSU, Baton Rouge, LA
Ceramic Invitational, Hocking College Art Gallery, Nelsonville, OH
Top Shelf, M.T. Burton Gallery, NJ
Summer of Love, dowstudio, Deer Isle, ME
Whiskey Flights, The Clay Studio of Philadelphia
2013 Disaster, Relief, Resilience, Crimson Laurel Gallery, NC
20/20 Vision, dowstudio, Deer Isle, ME
Art of the Pot Invites, San Angelo Museum, TX
La Mesa, Santa Fe Clay, Houston, TX
Yunomi Invitational, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
Outpour, Robert T. Wright Gallery, Grayslake, IL
2012 Cup of the Month Club, Watershed Center, Newcastle, ME
Source Material, Crimson Laurel Gallery, Bakersville, NC
Utilitarian Clay VI: Celebrate the Object, Arrowmont, Gatlinburg, TN
Dessert Plates, AKAR Design, Iowa City, IA
Let There be Light, Lilstreet, Chicago, IL
Handmade in the USA, dowstudio, Deer Isle, ME
Art of the Pot, Austin, TX
The World’s Your Oyster, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD
2011 Gifted, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Winterfest, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD
Cup: The Intimate Object, Charlie Cummings Gallery
Cups and Coffee, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Interpreting the Cup, Crimson Laurel Gallery, Bakersville, NC
Ceramics: Post-Digital Design, American Museum of Ceramic Art; Pomona
Archie Bray Exhibition, NCECA, Tampa, FL
La Mesa, Santa Fe Clay, Tampa, FL
For the Table, The Clay Studio; Philadelphia, PA
Yunomi Invitational, AKAR Gallery, IA
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY
Teapot Show, Clay Studio of Missoula, MT
honors and awards
2019 Faculty Professional Development Grant, Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education (PASSHE)
Faculty Research Grant, Kutztown University
Center for Enhancement of Teaching Summer Seminar, Kutztown University
Professional Travel Grant, Kutztown University
2018 Instructional Materials Grant, Kutztown University
Junior Faculty Development Grant, Kutztown University
Professional Travel Grant, Kutztown University
KU BEARS Research Grant, Kutztown University
Junior Faculty Development Grant, Kutztown University
2017 Best of Functional Category, Zanesville Prize for Contemporary Ceramics
Artist Residency and Workshop Teaching, Archie Bray, Helena, MT
Instructional Materials Grant, Kutztown University
Junior Faculty Development Grant, Kutztown University
Professional Travel Grant, Kutztown University
2016 Artist Residency and Workshop Teaching, Watershed, Newcastle, ME
2011 Artist Residency Fellowship Award , Anderson Ranch Arts Center
2010 Opportunity Grant, Montana Arts Council
2009 Lincoln Fellowship, The Archie Bray Foundation
2008 Merit Award, Jersey Shore Clay National Exhibition
Eric Myhre Scholarship Award, The Archie Bray Foundation
Full Fellowship Residency Award, Vermont Studio Center
2007 Grand Prize, Thinking Outside the Bowl, Pottery Making Illustrated
Honorable Mention Award, Jersey Shore Clay National Exhibition
2006 Honorable Mention Award, 6th National Juried Cup Show
Potter's Choice Award, Strictly Functional Pottery National
NCECA Graduate Student Fellowship, Portland, OR
Waddell Biggart Graduate Fellowship, Penn State University
2005 Best of Show Award, 4th Annual Soda/Salt National
lectures and workshops
2021 Gallery Talk at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum, presented for the Women Working with Clay: Ten Years of Telling a Story Exhibition and Symposium
2021 Refining Your Palette: Developing Unique Surfaces, lecture Presented at the NCECA Conference, Richmond, VA [postponed from 2020].
2019 Backwards Course Design and Stacked Courses, lecture presented through the Center for Enhancement of Teaching, Kutztown University.
2019 The Poetics of Glaze Chemistry, Idyllwild Arts Hot Clay Summer Program
2019 Making Room for the Unknown: Open-Ended Prompts in the Ceramics Studio, presented at the 81st annual Art Education Conference, Kutztown
2018 A Refined Palette: Nourishing a Unique Approach to Color in the Ceramic Process, Kutztown University Summer Institute.
2018 The Poetics of Glaze Chemistry, College of Visual and Performing Arts Faculty First Thursday Lecture Series, Kutztown University
2017 In the Mix: Sculptural Approaches to Function, The Clay Studio
2017 A Weekend with Objective Clay, Archie Bray, Helena, MT.
2017 Designing Sensuous Encounters, Presenter, Canadian Clay Symposium, Shadbolt Center for the Arts, Burnaby, BC.
2016 Keeping in Touch: Ceramics, Food, and Relationship, Goggleworks
2016 Building Composite Forms, Watershed, Newcastle, ME.
2016 Serving a Purpose, Boulder Potter’s Guild, Boulder, CO.
2016 Considered Gestures, Presentation at NCECA, Kansas City, MO
2016 Visiting Artist Workshop, Clay College of Cumberland County, NJ
2014 Craft Performance Week Presenter; Alberta College of Art and Design
Designing Purposeful Forms, at the Women Working with Clay Symposium
2013 Visiting Artist Workshop, University of Florida; Gainesville, FL
Visiting Artist Workshop, Surry Community College; Dobson, NC
Core Fellows Seminar, eight-week seminar, Penland, NC
What’s on your Plate? Long Beach Island Foundation for the Arts
2012 Building from Inside Out: How Pots Hold Meaning, presenter at the Utilitarian Clay VI Symposium, Arrowmont School, Gatlinburg, TN
Body-Centered Design: Building Responsive Forms in Porcelain, one-week workshop at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
Visiting Artist Workshop, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC
Designing Sensuous Encounters, Metropolitan State University, Denver, CO
Working from the Inside Out, presenter at the 2nd Annual Bowling Green State University Ceramics Symposium, Bowling Green, OH
2011 Visiting Artist Workshop, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AK
Any Means Necessary: Building Composite Forms in Porcelain, one-week workshop at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, CO
Unifying Form and Surface: From Inside Out, Potter’s Council Workshop, Surface and Form, Cincinnati, OH
2010 Building Composite Forms in Porcelain, N. Mt. Pleasant Art Center, Calgary
Building from Inside Out, Ruby’s Clay Studio, San Francisco, CA
Visiting Artist Workshops, Clark College, Oregon College of Art and Crafts, and Portland Community College, Portland, OR
Visiting Artist Workshop, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
Any Means Necessary: Building Composite Forms in Porcelain, one day workshop at The Clay Studio of Missoula, Missoula, MT
2008 Visiting Artist Workshop, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA
2007 Immeasurable Distances: Vessels and the Spaces Between, panel presentation at NCECA Louisville
publications and video productions authored by yoppolo
2021 The Poetics of Color. Book, under contract, The American Ceramics Society
2021 “Refining Your Palette: Developing Unique Surfaces,” in The NCECA Journal
2019 Striking Serveware: Handbuilding Techniques for Distinctive Forms. Instructional Video with Ceramic Arts Network
2018 gwendolyn yoppolo, in Supermud/Futuremud exhibition catalog
2017 “Citrus Juicer,” in Clay & Cuisine, The American Ceramic Society
2016 “gwendolyn yoppolo in the Process Room: Considered Gestures,” in Conference Companion to NCECA 2016
2016 “Inside Out: A Thirst for Experience,” in 100 Artists 1000 Cups, The Clay Studio
2016 “Multipart Citrus Juicer,” in Kitchen Pots, Bakers, and Serving Vessels
2016 “Condiment Server,” in Kitchen Pots, Bakers, and Serving Vessels
2016 “these things don’t hold water,” on objectiveclay.com
2016 “vertiginous journeys,” on objectiveclay.com
2016 Objective Clay Cup Video, available online
2015 “in the hands of the beholder,” on objectiveclay.com
2015 “on not solving problems,” on objectiveclay.com
2014 “Crossing Boundaries,” in Studio Potter
2014 “color speaks volumes,” on objectiveclay.com
2012 “Designing for Food,” in Surface Glaze and Form
2010 “Condiment Server,” in Ceramic Projects: Forming Techniques
2010 “Whole Foods, Integrated Design,” in Pottery Making Illustrated
2008 “Embodying Emptiness: Making and the Inner Senses,” in Studio Potter
2007 "Got Form? Building a Two-Chambered Condiment Server," in Pottery Making Illustrated
2007 "Immeasurable Distances: Vessels and the Spaces Between," NCECA Journal
2001 “Finding Center and Balancing There: Spirals of Change in Art and Teaching,” chapter in Passion and Pedagogy: Creation, Relation, and Transformation in Teaching
1999 “Spinning From the Center: Creation and Transformation,” in Sagewoman
selected bibliography on yoppolo authored by others
2020 Ryan Coppage, The Secret Rules of Pottery Aesthetics (Images of artwork)
2019 Janet Koplos. What Makes a Potter: Functional Pottery in America Today
2019 “Exposure,” in Ceramics Monthly, September 2019, on Full of Appetite
2019 “Objective Clay Expo” in Sights and Ceramics Minneapolis
2018 Trent Berning, A Ceramic Guide: The Art of Creating and Teaching Wheel-Thrown Ceramics (Images of artwork)
2018 “Objective Clay Expo” in Sights and Ceramics Pittsburgh, published by The American Ceramic Society (Images of artwork)
2018 Sunshine Cobb, Mastering Handbuilding (Images of artwork)
2017 “Objective Clay Expo” in Conference Companion to NCECA 2017
2017 “The Object of Objective Clay,” by Joe Molinanro. Ceramics Monthly
2015 Electric Kiln Ceramics: 4th Edition. by Richard Zakin
2014 “Why Go to A Workshop? gwendolyn yoppolo - Visiting Artist,” by Paul Brown, in Alberta College of Art and Design’s Spring News 2014 Journal
2014 “Collective Unconscious: All Together Now,” in American Craft
2014 American iPottery. Kevin Hluch, ed
2013 “Goods: Useful and beautiful products designed to make modern life more interesting,” in American Craft: The Craft of Design
2012 Wonders of Life, BBC2 Documentary
2011 “Interpreting the Cup,” in The Laurel of Asheville
2011 “From Center to Edge,” Ceramics Monthly
2010 “gwendolyn yoppolo: Utensils and Implements,” by Paul Mathieu, in Ceramic Excellence: Fellowships at the Archie Bray Foundation 2009-2010
2010 “Linger: New Work by gwendolyn yoppolo,” in Ceramics Monthly
2010 500 Vases. Lark Books
2008 “Emerging Artists,” in Ceramics Monthly
2008 500 Plates, Platters, and Chargers. Lark Books
2007 "Gallery," Clay Times Magazine
2007 "15th Strictly Functional Pottery National," in Ceramics Monthly
related professional experience
2011 Juror, NCECA Graduate Student Fellowship Awards
2007 Juror, Down to Earth Pottery Exhibition. West Chester, PA
curated artist registries
artaxis.org
accessceramics.org
permanent collections
Archie Bray Foundation
The Rosenfield Collection
University of Arkansas Fayetteville
University of Arkansas Little Rock