ABOUT THE ARTIST

Growing up on Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, ceramic artist Michael Wisner developed a deep love for nature.  It is very much a part of his work and remains an important source of inspiration. Today he lives in Colorado, where the natural beauty feeds his soul and its proximity to the great pottery traditions of the American southwest and Mexico permits him to continue his training and studies.

In 1989, Wisner began an apprenticeship with the great Mexican artist Juan Quezada and still travels to Mexico each year to work with him. 

ABOUT THE WORK

“The new work explores the interaction of form, texture and pattern. Baskets and heavily woven fabrics influence the texture and anatomy inspires many of the shapes. Many of the shapes I make are mirrors of the human anatomy reflecting curves of the hip and waist area. These simple, elegant shapes accept and compliment the intense patterning created in the incising process. Patterns made by texturing the clay surface dramatically evolve as they move across the pottery surface. Negative and positive spaces yield multiple levels of design that change, depending on the viewer’s perspective. Traditional outdoor firing and Raku techniques breathe multiple layers of depth into the surface. This adds random flash patterns that seemingly freeze-frame the potential energy of the fire into the clay body.”

The color of his pieces is largely determined by the color of the clay he digs. Most pieces are in shades of terra cotta or black. The tones may vary slightly on a single piece due to the firing process.

EDUCATION

1992- present- Intensive Spanish Language studies in Quito, Ecuador, Antigua, Guatemala, and Chihuahua, Mexico.1989- present- Annual residences with Juan Quezada in Mata Ortiz, Mexico
1989- 1998- Workshops with Native American potters Lucy, Emma and Dolores Lewis, Blue Corn, Laura Gauchapin, Fawn Navase, Nicholas Quezada, Edmundo Lopez

1983-1986- University of Maryland- BS Biology

AWARDS

2003   National Endowment for the Arts- Colorado Council for the Arts recipient

EXHIBITIONS

2003 Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA2003 American Pottery Festival, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
2001 Exhibits USA, The Potters of Mata Ortiz, traveling show beginning at Canton Museum of Art, Canton, OH
2001 Smithsonian Museum, Renwick Art Museum, Washington, DC