Sabri Ben-Achour

Artist Statement

I believe we as humans are primed to find beauty in the disorderly order of nature. Trying to evoke or harness that is the basis of much of my work. This sometimes involves giving visibility to forces that are unseeable for us directly - magnetism - or visible only in moments - erosion, explosion, crystallization. I believe this encourages examination of time and the viewer’s place in it. We connect with natural processes and forces on some basic level, but we are also isolated by their immensity. In a way this appreciation of natural beauty makes us feel small and very big all at the same time.

Artist Bio

I started making pottery in Missouri at Access Arts when I was 8 years old, just a few years after emigrating there from Tunisia. I went on to apprentice and teach in Washington DC with Jill Hinckley. I have taught in Washington DC and New York for the past 19 years and create my work while maintaining a day job. In college chemistry was one of my favorite subjects and I still have a soft spot for it and I use it in my work. I hold the Japanese aesthetic of wabi sabi in high regard and one of my teachers was a student of Japanese design, and both find their way into my functional and sculptural work. Relatedly, I try to capture natural forces in much of my work and their potential for promoting both connection and isolation.