You are here: Home / Archives for Current Artist

Current Artist

Lexus Giles

by

Lexus Giles
2024 Lilian Fellow
Jackson, Mississippi

Lexus Giles’ work reflects her identity as a Black woman raised in the South, engaging deeply with the Black Diaspora. As a multimedia artist specializing in ceramics, she explores how history manifests in our present lives. Lexus addresses themes of structure, erasure, and the systems affecting her community while celebrating Blackness. She sees herself as a record-keeper, using materials like clay, wood, and found objects in connection to the land and its people that occupy the land. Her artistic process involves hand-building and mold-pressing techniques, emphasizing the human touch and the multi-functionality of objects. Through carving and mark-making, she evokes the complexities of Black identity, the legacies of Atlantic trans/slavery, and African origins, creating a dialogue between past, present, and future.

Giles received her BFA from Mississippi State University in 2019. This spring she earned her MFA in ceramics from the University of Florida. Giles’ work has been exhibited in Mississippi, Florida, Iowa, Chicago, and New York. She received the 2021-2022 University of Florida Grinter Fellowship and the Sam B. Hamilton Noxubee Refuge Fellowship in 2019.

Dante Gambardella

by

Dante Gambardella
2024 Quigley-Hiltner Fellow
Bozeman, Montana

Gambardella grew up in the Bay Area and discovered ceramics after moving to Bozeman, MT. While studying at Montana State University, he became deeply interested in wood firing and using local materials—techniques ceramicists have practiced for thousands of years.

In recent years, Gambardella has expanded his practice to include ceramic furniture and glaze paintings. Still, he remains deeply inspired by Montana’s rich geology and the unique experience of working with local materials. To him, the world of clay is about engaging with his community, contributing to a network of shared knowledge, and continuously challenging himself as an artist.

Jason Lee Starin

by

Jason Lee Starin
2024 Sarah Frederick Scholar
Grand Rapids, Michigan

Jason Lee Starin has shown in numerous group exhibitions throughout the USA, most notably at Atlantic Gallery, NYC., Katherine E. Nash Gallery, MN., Law Warschaw Gallery, MN., Woodmere Art Museum, PA., Gravity Gallery, MA., American Museum of Ceramic Art, CA., The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, NC., GCA Gallery, NYC., Arizona State University Art Museum, Ceramics Research Center, AZ., The Clay Studio, PA., and San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, TX.

Starin is currently a full-term artist in residence at The Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, MT. From 2015 – 2019, Starin was a full-term resident artist at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, PA. In 2017, Starin received an Independence Foundation Fellowship Grant to research his interest in Geomythology during a two-month stay at the NES Artist Residency in Skagaströnd, Iceland. From 2015 to 2020, Starin served as a Faculty Member as well as the Ceramic Shop Supervisor and Technician in the Craft and Material Studies Program at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. During that time, he also taught Advanced Handbuilding classes at The Clay Studio. From 2013 to 2014, Starin was the Lead Ceramic Technician and Studio manager for the Ceramic Department of Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, OR. He has held positions with BDDW, LLC., Mudshark Studios, LLC., Michael Curry Design, Inc., The Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, as well as Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University.

Starin received his MFA in Applied Craft and Design from Pacific Northwest College of Art and Oregon College of Art and Craft in 2011, and his BFA in Ceramics from Grand Valley State University in 1999. In 1998, he studied Conceptual Art and Sculpture at Kingston University, Kingston, United Kingdom.

Jake Brodsky

by

Jake is a potter living in the mountains outside of Helena, Montana with his family. He was born and raised in Helena, and much of the ideas behind his work are influenced by the landscapes of Montana and from growing up in a community that has long supported artist-potters. After pursuing opportunities around the country for the last decade, he moved back to Helena in 2023 to settle down and build a sustainable studio practice.

Jake’s formative education in ceramics came through working at craft schools, community studios, and for other artists, and he received his MFA in Ceramic Art from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. He has completed artist residencies at Red Lodge Clay Center, Pottery Northwest, and Studio 740, and is excited to begin a long-term residency at the Archie Bray Foundation in 2025.

Kim Tucker

by

Kim Tucker
2024 Joan Lincoln Fellow
California

Kim Tucker’s figures are outsiders caught in moments of vulnerability, and her works are influenced by Beatrice Wood, Viola Frey, cave paintings and vintage figurines. She creates portraits of humans feeling weird, happy, lost, joyful and sometimes uncomfortable. Often with a female subject at the center, she uses figuration as a gestural means of expression to dig deeper into the psyche.

Tucker studied ceramic sculpture under the direction of Viola Frey and Arthur Gonzalez at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland CA, graduating with High Distinction. She received her MFA in ceramics under the guidance of M.J. Bole at The Ohio State University in Columbus. Kim was a recent invited artist-in-residence at Cal State University Dominguez Hills, The Bray, and the American Museum of Ceramic Arts. Kim has shown her work at Gallery Futur (Switzerland), Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, American Museum of Ceramic Arts, Lauren Powell Projects, L2Kontemporary and AMcE Creative Arts.

Chris Pickett

by

The human desire for comfort is universal. In moments of uncertainty, it insulates us from anxiety and unease.   My functional ceramic vessels address this need for physical and emotional comfort.  Using nostalgia as a reference point, I utilize form, color, and design to evoke a sense of familiarity and solace.  I choose a visual language that suggests the comforting nature of physical intimacy, community, personal domestic spaces, and childhood experiences.
Using low-relief stencils and compound mold systems allows me to articulate vessels with a specific formal language.  With the appearance of being freshly constructed, the fullness of form allows these vessels to evoke a sense of play and ease.  Generous volumes serve as metaphors for our bodies, alluding to the comforts of physical intimacy.  Exaggerated pillow forms create a desire to interact with the work physically, and voluptuous curves awaken our preconceptions of volume and what it represents: vitality, sensuality, generosity, and abundance. With these vessels, I provide users with a transformative personal experience through use rather than addressing utility, necessity, or convenience.  

arrow icon

Join The Bray
Mailing List:

Subscribe