Paul Briggs

Artist Statement

"Nature makes no aesthetic mistakes," is a guiding principle of my pinch-formed vessels. Though it was not the initial impetus for this genre of my work. My process has long been about growth and flow as it is a practice that keeps me present. For the viewer, the work looks like “leaves,” “tentacles,” “a cobra’s head,” and other organic protuberances and patterns. I have adopted these labels for my repertoire of pinching techniques. I attend to details with nature in mind developing essential transitions in each form. I continually reach toward a flow in my practice and in the surface, texture and forms inspired by nature.

Artist Bio

Paul Briggs grew up in the Hudson Valley of New York. He began working with clay in high school. His pinching, takes inspiration from the idea that “nature makes no aesthetic mistakes.” He earned his PhD at the Pennsylvania State University and his MFA at the Massachusetts College of Art. Paul teaches at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.