Artist: Laurie Caffery Harris
Laurie Caffery Harris, NORTH CAROLINA
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The use of functional ceramics incorporates daily visual and habitual elements within our lives. They can be objects of festivity and beauty, or vessels for nourishment. Utilitarian pottery is an intrinsic part of social relationships and rituals that are created over a shared meal. These objects compose a conversation that both enriches and celebrates life and what sustains us. My work intends to elevate daily practices into lighthearted and joyful experiences that convey a sense of place.
Having grown up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, I learned to associate the peaks and valleys with my father, who taught me the names of the bright blue ranges and how to find healing in the landscape. My mother, a painter, encouraged me to pursue drawing as guidance through the anxiety I experienced as a child. These grounding practices that I was given by my family have left me captivated by the concepts of home and belonging.
Within my work I explore these concepts through narrative and whimsy. I draw
storylines on functional work to elicit the feeling of home or place. Pitching a tent in the woods is a simple act, but it is one that denotes presence and the creation of your own home. This imagery manifests the playful, the magical and the whimsical that exists within reality and in our imaginations.
EDUCATION
Appalachian State University
Bachelor of Fine Arts with an Emphasis in Ceramics 2014
3.7 GPA
AWARDS AND PUBLICATIONS
The Dr. Judith Temple Scholarship, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts 2019
Amazing Glaze: Techniques, Recipes, Finishing and Firing by Gabriel Kline 2018
Regional Artist Project Grant Recipient, Toe River Arts Council 2017
The Dr. Judith Temple Scholarship, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts 2017
Friends of Arrowmont Scholarship, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts 2015
Appalachian State University Student Research Grant Recipient 2014
Eva H. Burress Memorial Scholarship 2013
Appalachian State University Dean’s List 2014
RESIDENCIES
Long Term Resident, Odyssey Clayworks 2017-2019
Summer Artist Resident, Odyssey Clayworks 2016
INVITATIONAL SHOWS
“Cup: The Intimate Object XV”, Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL 2019
“2018 Yunomi Invitational”, ClayAKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA 2019
“The Functional Canvas IV”, Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL 2019
“Winter Show”, Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art, Greensboro, NC 2018
“2018 Yunomi Invitational”, ClayAKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA 2018
“Ten Years of Appalachian State Ceramics”, Blowing Rock Art and History
Museum (BRAHM), Blowing rock NC 2018
NATIONAL JURIED EXHIBITIONS
“Adorned”, The Clay Center of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 2019
“Nasty Women and Bad Hombres”, Clayspace Gallery, Asheville, NC 2019
“Cup: The Intimate Object XIV”, Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL 2018
“Material Mugs III: UNDERGLAZE”, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN 2018
“Second Annual Mug Show”, Eye of The Dog Arts Center, Dog’s Eye Gallery, San Marcos, TX 2018
“The Cup, The Mug 2017”, Main Street Arts, Clifton Springs, NY 2017
“Cup: The Intimate Object XIII”, Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL 2017
“Nasty Women”, Clayspace Gallery, Asheville, NC 2017
“Boundless: Senior BFA Exhibition”, Smith Gallery, Boone, NC 2014
“An Exploration in Clay”, Looking Glass Gallery, Boone, NC 2013
“Art Expo”, Turchin Center for The Visual Arts, Boone, NC 2013
GALLERY REPRESENTATION
Pottery Road Studio Gallery, Seagrove, NC 2019-Present
Gallery of the Mountains, Asheville, NC 2019-Present
Odyssey Clayworks Gallery, Asheville, NC 2017-Present
Visual Index Gallery, Asheville, NC 2018-Present
Carlton Gallery, Foscoe, NC 2016-Present
RELATED WORK EXPERIENCE
Marketing Manager, The Bright Angle Studio 2016-2019
Studio Assistant, Odyssey Clayworks 2016-2017
Pottery Studio Manager, The Art of Living Retreat Center 2015-2016
Gallery Ambassador, Turchin Center for the Visual Arts 2012-2014
Technical Assistant, Kiln Room Supervisor, Appalachian State University Clay
Area 2013-2014
Technical Assistant, Glaze Room Assistant, Appalachian State University Clay
Area 2013
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Workshop Presenter, East Carolina University Ceramics Guild 2020
Instructor, Odyssey Clayworks, Asheville NC 2016-Present
Assistant to Karen Newgard, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC 2018
Instructor, Art of Living Retreat Center, Boone, NC 2016-2017
Teaching Assistant, Beginners Throwing with Lisa Stinson, Appalachian State
University Clay Area 2013