Artist: Mike Gesiakowski
Mike Gesiakowski, ILLINOIS
Artist Statement
My work draws upon architectural form, structural composition, and spatial balance. The lines, textures, and ordered patterns of built environments inspire pieces that speak to the connection between material, design, and craftsmanship. By translating the language of architecture into ceramic objects, I seek a dialog between past and present, presence and absence, the tangible and abstract.
Education
Masters of Fine Art/Ceramics – Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL 2015
Bachelor of Fine Arts/Design – Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 1998
Teaching Experience
2016-Present Ceramics Instructor/Fine Arts Chair, John Burroughs School, St. Louis, MO
2015 Beginning Ceramics, Instructor of Record, SIUE, Edwardsville, IL
2014 Beginning Sculpture, Instructor of Record, SIUE, Edwardsville, IL
2003-2007 Adjunct Instructor of Art, Kishwaukee College, Malta, IL
Professional Experience
2021 Exploring the Depths of Surface Design Workshop, Craft Alliance, St. Louis, MO
2021 Crafting Connections, Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
2021 Creating Depth Through Surface Design Workshop, Pocosin Arts Center, Columbia, NC
2019 Intersect : K-12 educator Think Tank, Arrowmont School of Arts & Craft, Gatlinburg, TN
2015 Crafted, Curator, SIUE, Edwardsville, IL
2013-2014 Gallery/Marketing Assistant, GA position, SIUE, Edwardsville, IL
2012-2013 Studio Technician, GA position, SIUE, Edwardsville, IL
2012 Anagama Kiln Build, Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT
2010 Catenary Train Kiln Build, Mill Creek Pottery, Gresham, WI
2009 Demonstration Workshop, Kishwaukee Community College, Malta, IL
Apprenticeships/Residencies
2022 Watershed AIA, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Edgecomb, ME
2018 Pentaculum, Arrowmont School of Arts & Craft, Gatlinburg, TN
2013 Artist in Residence, Wingate Scholar, Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT
2010-2011 Apprentice to Simon Levin, Mill Creek Pottery, Gresham, WI
Exhibitions
2025 Material Mugs X, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
On the Surface, Baltimore Clay Works, Baltimore, MD
Drinking Age, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
2024 Faculty and Alumni Exhibition, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL
Earth & Fire 2024, Stifel Fine Arts Center, Wheeling, WV
Bricks and Botanicals, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Embrace the Vase, Worcester Center for Craft, Worcester, MA
Biennial Faculty Exhibition, Bonsack Gallery, John Burroughs School, St. Louis, MO
Material Mugs IX, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
2023 Small Works Invitational, Duane Reed Gallery, St. Louis, MO
Resist: Form and Surface, Red Lodge Clay Center, Red Lodge, MT
Material Mugs VIII, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
2022 Twenty x5, Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, KS
Raise a Toast II, Edwardsville Art Center, Edwardsville, IL
Yesterday and Today, Columbia College, Columbia, MO
2021 Small Favors, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Juried National VI, Red Lodge Clay Center, Red Lodge, MT
Cup: The Intimate Object XVII, Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL
Hella Cups, Applied Contemporary Gallery, Oakland, CA
Sweet Things, Riverside Pottery, Cape Girardeau, MO
Strictly Function Pottery National, Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, PA
Last Call, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
2020 Small Favors, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Tea and Cookies: Biennial Teapot Exhibition, Craft Alliance, St. Louis, MO
Central Time Ceramics, Bradley University, Peoria, IL
Yunomi Invitational, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
Strictly Functional Pottery National, Market House Craft Center, Lancaster, PA
666 small works, Applied Contemporary Gallery, Oakland, CA
Material Mugs V, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
Cup: The Intimate Object XVI, Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL
Hold Me, Dunedin Fine Arts Center, Dunedin, FL
Metal & Mud, Edwardsville Art Center, Edwardsville, IL
Summer is Served, Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL
2019 Small Favors, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Intersection: A Coalition of Makers/Educators in K-12,
53rd NCECA Conference, Minneapolis, MN
Yunomi Invitational, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
Cup: The Intimate Object XV, Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL
Raise a Toast: An Exhibition of Ceramic Cups, Edwardsville Art Center, Edwardsville, IL
2018 Americano Invitational, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
Merge, Surplus Gallery, Carbondale, IL
The Clay Cup IV: Vessel, Icon, Canvas,
Bingham Gallery, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
Cup: The Intimate Object XIV, Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL
Biennial Faculty Exhibition, Bonsack Gallery, John Burroughs School, St. Louis, MO
Yunomi Invitational, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
2017 Louis’s Legacy: Artists Respond to Louis Sullivan, Edwardsville Art Center, Edwardsville, IL
Small Favors, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Last Call II, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
Art St. Louis XXXIII, Art St. Louis Gallery, St. Louis, MO
Cup: The Intimate Object XIII, Charlie Cummings Gallery, Gainesville, FL
Yunomi Invitational, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
2016 Beyond the Brickyard, Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT
Lineage: 41 Years of SIUE MFAs, 50th NCECA Conference, Kansas City, MO
Southern Miss Ceramics National, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS
Waubonsee Invitational, Emergent Gallery, Aurora, IL
Sculpture on Campus Revisited, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL
Yunomi Invitational, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
2015 30 x 5, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
Marge Brown Kalodner Graduate Student Exhibition, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Rebuilding Perception, MFA Thesis, Edwardsville Art Center, Edwardsville, IL
Apprentice Lines, 49th NCECA Conference, Pawtucket, RI
NCECA National Juried Student Exhibition, 49th NCECA Conference, Providence, RI
SIUE MFA Exhibition, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL
Yunomi Invitational, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
2014 Small Works, Wood River, IL
Archie Bray Resident Exhibition, 48th NCECA Conference, Milwaukee, WI
NCECA National Juried Student Exhibition, 48th NCECA Conference, Milwaukee, WI
30 x 5, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
MFA Invitational, St. Charles Community College, St. Charles, MO
Yunomi Invitational, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
SIUE MFA Exhibition, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL
2013 Iowa Seeds, AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, IA
Ceramics Exhibition, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL
SIUE Ceramics Invitational, Greenville College, Greenville, IL
Resident Artist Exhibition, Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, MT
SIUE MFA Exhibition, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL
2012 SIUE Graduate Exhibition, St. Louis Community College - Meramec, St. Louis, MO
Drink This!, Workhouse Arts Center, Lorton, VA
It’s Only Clay, Bemidji Community Arts Center, Bemidji, MN
American Apprentice, Red Lodge Clay Center, Red Lodge, MT
The Perfect Plate, Lillstreet Art Center, Chicago, IL
2011 Cup Invitational, Clay on Steele, Algoma, WI
2010 Strictly Functional Pottery National, Market House Craft Center, East Petersburg, PA
Tea Bowl National, KC Clay Guild, Kansas City, MO
2009 The Vessel Interpreted, Kishwaukee College, Malta, IL
Muddy’s Wood Fire Classic, Myers Gallery, Santa Ana, CA
Publications
Surfacing Memories, Pottery Making Illustrated, July/August. 2019
Awards
Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist, 2018
Wingate Scholar Grant Award
Art St. Louis Honor Award
David C. Huntley Founder’s Award
SIUE Friends of Art Honor Award in Studio Arts
Martha Holden Graduate Award in Ceramics
John & Kay Kendall Ceramics Award
Carey G. Orness Award in Sculpture
Permanent Collections
Archie Bray Foundation, Permanent Collection, Helena, MT
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Permanent Collection, Edwardsville, IL
Waubonsee Community College, Permanent Collection, Sugar Grove, IL