about
Artist Statement
Catie Miller’s work is recognized by the bright colors, playful patterning, and unexpected approach to traditional tableware. Graphic, simplified depictions of realism with symbolic patterning from the obscure to the obvious create charming and cluttered compositions. The patterns have layers of personal meaning to Miller, from the re-contextualized florals of her great-grandmother’s bedsheets to the morning ritual of combing her boys’ hair. She brings vibrancy to the monotony of routines and creates comfort in the objects we choose to surround ourselves with, in a functional and unapologetically cheerful way. She finds satisfaction knowing the little strange stories she has integrated in her work only start with her, but grow over time when they are in someone else’s home. It is this connection to other’s lives and other’s stories that keeps her in the studio.
Process
In connecting surface and form, I balance densely filled graphic areas with simple raw clay surfaces. Similar to a monoprint process, I draw on newsprint with underglaze and paint the designs with colored slips. The slip covered newsprint is then pressed and transferred to the clay surface. This method results in diverse representation of my drawings, creating a timely, aged, and weathered appearance on the red clay foundation. After the first firing the drawings are set so the pieces can be sanded and glaze fired to be functional and food safe.
To learn more, please check out the article "Drawn and Transferred," originally published in Pottery Making Illustrated, September/October 2018. http://potterymaking.org. Copyright, The American Ceramic Society. Reprinted with permission.
