The Work
Functional ceramic objects built from slip-cast hollow elements — cut open, hand-modified, assembled, and glazed. The forms are primarily rectangular, altered after casting. A parallel body of work pushes toward more organic and fragmented forms, where the mold geometry itself becomes part of the investigation. Lamps, vessels, trays, candleholders. Each piece is one of a kind.
The Process
starts with plaster molds — some designed in Rhino and cast from 3D-printed trays — into which liquid clay is poured. The resulting casts get cut into with scalpels, steel rules, and improvised tools. Slip casting gives consistent form. The cutting and modification are where the variations begin.
Bio
James grew up in Pittsburgh, where industrial landscapes made an early impression. He earned a Bachelor of Architecture from Cooper Union in 1994 and spent thirty years designing exhibitions for institutions including the American Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian, and the New York Historical Society. In the middle of that he studied ceramics at École Duperré in Paris in 2005.
Studio Work
