Curling leaves and pinched patterns envelop the artist’s bold vessels Paul S. Briggs. Using a plate structure technique, he creates sturdy sculptures that give a nod to nature, mindfulness and the feasibility of his chosen medium.
Briggs approaches his process as a kind of meditation, squeezing each piece from a single ball of clay. When he shares his work on social media, he even uses the hashtag #noadditionorsubtraction to illustrate how the form emerges from the precise quantity he starts with.
“It is difficult to see in the finished vessels how the pieces emerge from one piece of clay,” Briggs tells Colossal. “I’m at a stage in the process where naming pinch-pots doesn’t quite reflect the evolution of the form, so I use the term ‘hand-turned’.”
The artist composes each piece using a kind of dual method: the first step of building with plates helps him think through ideas and ‘philosophize concretely’, while squeezing calms his mind.
As a lecturer at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Briggs is interested in how a range of topics—educational theory and policy, arts education, theology, and art—intersect in both the studio process and the finished work. “One of the most important tools I ask students to bring to my workshops is patience,” he says. “You can’t rush these parts; one must slow down. It is a very assertive but sensitive process, especially when six to twelve kilos of clay are involved.”
Being psychologically present in the process is central to Briggs’ approach, “which is why I have described the work as a conscious, meditative technique,” he adds. Wavy leaf shapes, intimate divots and wavy edges repeat in infinite circles around each vessel, reminiscent of a mesmerizing, three-dimensional zoetrope.
“Lately I’ve been making pieces with a balance between slow, deliberate pinches and very loose, intuitive marks,” says Briggs. These works are still emerging and he is interested in the potential of combining different approaches into one form.
In addition to several other group exhibitions, Briggs will display several ships in an exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of The art academy in the Oude Kerk in Demarest, New Jersey, which runs from December 6 to 8. He is also preparing for his next solo exhibition in Lucy Lacoste Gallery in Concord, Massachusetts, scheduled for July. Until then, discover more about the artist website.
