Wes Brown

Artist Statement

I work with a black clay and combine two ways of making: wheel throwing and hand building. On the potter’s wheel I make smooth, round forms. Away from the wheel I roll out slabs of clay and press deep textures into them using my hands, rocks, and other tools. I then cut, join, and reshape these different parts, letting intuition guide the process. When I build the vessel, I do not try to smooth the surfaces, so they match. I let each surface show the marks of how it was made. Like the clay in my work, these experiences come together to shape who I am. I do not try to hide the differences between them. Instead, I let them exist side by side. In the end, they form something whole and useful.

Artist Bio

Wesley T. Brown was born in California and raised in Dayton, Ohio. He went on to Sinclair Community College before attending Bowling Green State University (BGSU). He earned his Master of Fine Arts at Indiana University-Bloomington. Outside of academia he worked briefly for potters such as Mark Goertzen, Daniel Johnston, and Daniel Evans. Brown accepted a position as an Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Penn State University. Before this appointment, he taught at East Stroudsburg University, the University of Dayton, and Bard High School Early College in Baltimore.