Artist: Maddie Fowler
The core of my work revolves around a keen interest in the history of ceramics and a fascination with intersection of food, ceramic vessels and culture. I seek to make direct forms that allow for layers of decoration. The surfaces of the vessels I make represent a visual intersection of urban and rural built environments. Lines that make up windows and doors, houses and stores, paved paths and rails, are paired with crop rows, distant fence lines and solitary barns. Drawn to the work of Sean Scully, Agnes Martin and Kazimir Malevich, I apply colored blocks of slip over my dark stoneware which then gets a blanket of white terra sigillata as a calm neutral background. The colored slips and underglazes are small pockets of hidden color and bold lines that frame the pot and establish a structure to a final linear composition.
Cooking is a deep passion of mine. As a potter, it presents opportunities to design specific forms that I used in food preparation and service. I pull inspiration from meals and foods I customarily prepare, whether it be an oil and salt set I use daily or a large pitcher I bring out occasionally. My work is intended to be used on a daily basis and also an object of intrigue when not in use.
Education
2018-19 Post-Baccalaureate Studies: Ceramics
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
2014-18 Bachelor of Fine Arts: Ceramics
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.
Residencies
2018 Short-Term Resident, Red Lodge Clay Center
Red Lodge, Montana. (3 weeks) Advanced Student Project Network.
2017 Short-Term Resident, International Ceramics Studio
Kecskemet, Hungary (4 weeks)
2016 Short-Term Resident, The Ceramics Center
Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (4 weeks)
2015 Short-Term Resident, International Ceramics Studio
Kecskemet, Hungary (4 weeks)
Group Exhibitions
2020 Strictly Functional Pottery National
Last Call VI, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN.
Cups for Y’all, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX.
Material Mugs, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN.
6th Annual Dirty South Cup Show, River Oaks Square Art Center, Alexandria, LA.
Geaux Cups III, Clay Center of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA.
666 Small Works, Applied Contemporary, Oakland, CA.
2019 Multiples Event, Ann Connelly Fine Art, Baton Rouge, LA.
We Are Here, 841 Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA.
Bluebonnet Library Show, Bluebonnet Library, Baton Rouge, LA.
Clay on Beignets, Gallery 101, Baton Rouge, LA.
2018 LSU Student Art Show, The Union Art Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA.
Pots on Tots, Locker Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA.
White Light Nights Art Festival, Baton Rouge, LA.
Terra Nova: Ten Years, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, IA.
Featured Artist: Advanced Student Project Network,
Red Lodge Clay Center, Red Lodge, MT.
Coalesce: BFA Thesis Exhibition, Seigfred Gallery, Ohio University,
Athens, Ohio.
2017 Undergraduate Juried Exhibition, Seigfred Gallery, Ohio University, Athens, OH.
Sia es Hello, International Ceramics Studio, Kecskemet, Hungary.
2016 Undergraduate Juried Exhibition, Seigfred Gallery, Ohio University, Athens, OH.
A Sense of Place, Trisolini Gallery, Athens, OH.
Sixteen Days, International Ceramics Studio, Kecskemet, Hungary.
Gallery Experiance
2019 Co-Curator and Exhibition Coordinator, Clay on Beignets.
(Curators: Dehmie Dehmlow, Stacy Larson, Maddie Fowler)
Locker Gallery, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.
Duties: install artwork, organize opening reception, exhibition promotion, and de-installation.
2018 Co-Curator and Exhibition Coordinator Pots on Tots.
(Curators: Dehmie Dehmlow, Stacy Larson, Maddie Fowler)
Locker Gallery, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.
Duties: install artwork, organize opening reception, exhibition promotion, and de-installation.
2017 Exhibition Coordinator, Tactic II
(Curator: Matt Mitros) Kennedy Art Museum, Athens, OH.
24 artists representing a growing shift among contemporary ceramic artists in material sensibility as seen by the way non-clay materials are being integrated into their work.
Duties: installing artwork, artist accommodations, catering for the opening, organizing and advertising for the exhibition and roundtable discussions, as well as deinstallation and packing of the artwork following the exhibition.
Exhibition Coordinator, Material Histories: Cultures of Resistance
(Curator: Alex Hibbitt) Majestic Galleries, Nelsonville, OH.
This exhibition brought together contemporary artworks that range from the monumental to the performative. Highlighting concerns such as human rights, our relationship to the natural resources and personal histories.
Duties : installing artwork, artist accommodations, catering for the opening, organizing and advertising for the exhibition and roundtable discussions, as well as deinstallation and packing of the artwork following the exhibition.
Awards / Grants
2018 Provost Undergraduate Research Fund
Ohio University, Athens, OH.
Raymond C. Cook Endowment Scholarship
Ohio University, Athens, OH.
2017 Undergraduate Travel Fund
Ohio University, Athens, OH.
2016 Functional Ceramics Workshop Student Scholarship
Wayne Center for the Arts, Wooster, OH.
Jurors Choice Award, Undergraduate Juried Exhibition
Ohio University, Athens, OH.
Collections
Cedar Rapids Museum of Art Permanent Collection, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.