About the Artist

Japanese pottery came between Thomas Hoadley and his ambition to become an architect. He was working in an architect’s office in Boston when he wandered into a nearby gallery. There he saw the Japanese pottery that changed his life. Shortly afterward, he sought out an apprenticeship and found Vermont potter Malcolm Wright. He later earned an MFA in ceramics from Illinois State. After a brief, unsuccessful, foray into production pottery, Hoadley chose to concentrate on one-of-a-kind pieces.

About the Work

At Illinois, he was introduced to the technique he now uses in his own pottery. The technique is called Nerikomi. Translated from Japanese, the term means “to mix” or “to press into.” The process involves layering differently colored clays, layering them again, folding and working the clay into blocks. Slabs are cut from the blocks, producing intricately patterned clay slices. (The artist compares the block to a jelly roll.)

Slabs cut from the blocks are used to “build” a pot. The patterning and color on the pot’s surface comes from the composition of the clay itself. It is not applied to the surface.

“My initial attraction to the Nerikomi technique came from its organic union of pattern and structure…The natural world abounds with this sort of union and as a result, offers endless inspiration for pattern making.”

Once the pot is built, many steps remain, including sanding, firing and sanding again. His production is very small, only sixty-five pieces a year.

Selected Collections

National Museum of American Art, Renwick Gallery, Washington, DC

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, CA

The White House, Washington, DC

Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu, Japan

Publications

2005 American Craft, Exhibition Review, October/November

• Naked Clay, Ceramics Without Glaze, Jane Perryman, University of Pennsylvania Press

• Making Marks, Discovering Ceramic Surface, Robin Hopper, kp books, Iola, Wisconsin         

Exhibitions

2005  Rufford Craft Centre, Newark, Nottinghamshire, UK “Naked Clay”