Basket, 2024

Minah Kim

stoneware wall hanging

19.5" Diameter x 3.5" Depth

This beautiful piece by Resident Artist Minah Kim is a one-of-a-kind sculpture rooted in history and tradition. Basket is composed of the artist's petal forms, created by her fingerprints, and gracefully assembled to create a sokuri, a basket commonly found in Korean households. The gentle colors of natural grays, pinks, peaches, and greens blend together, evoking the gradual change between seasons or the blooming of flowers. This piece can hang on the wall or sit flat on a surface, making it the perfect addition to any space.

Artist Statement

My work simultaneously communicates physical gestures of the process of working and thinking about internalized memories. Internalized memories are sensorial and visceral. They come from sensing the construction of socio-political identities of myself and others as well as its fictional realities. I could only properly express this physical realization through motion, body gestures, nuance, and the way my works encounter others. Existing between the space of certainty and uncertainty, I search for works that activate encountered moments and actualize these nuances by creating and arranging a dialogue within the work. Ceramics and sound are ephemeral material in terms of reading their histories while also having strong tangibility and energy of survival.

Artist Biography

Minah Kim is from South Korea where she earned her BFA and MFA at Ewha Woman's University. She has currently completed her MFA at the University of Arkansas. Minah showed her pieces internationally including at Asia Contemporary Art show, China, The Clay Studio, PA, District Clay Gallery in D.C., Frankfurt Herbstmesse, Germany, and many others in South Korea including Seoul Art Center, Gimhae Clayarch Museum, Gyeomjae Jungsun Museum as well as completed artist in residence program at Anderson Ranch Art Center and Gimhae Clayarch Museum. She is a recipient of numerous grants and fellowship including NCECA (National Council on Education for Ceramic Arts) Multicultural Fellowship and Artist 360 by MAAA(Mid America Arts Alliance). Minah is a panelist of NWSA (National Women's Studies Association) and AAPI heritage discussion group of Northwest Arkansas. She was also MASS MoCA resident artist in winter 2021.

Donated by the Artist - Minah Kim.

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• Shipping is NOT included in the winning bid.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
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The Embrace, 2025

Don Nakamura

earthenware, glaze

12" Diameter x 2 1/4" Depth

Looking for something new and exciting? This dish by Don Nakamura is endlessly fascinating. The graphic images and drawings across the surface tantalize the senses and activate the imagination. The images almost seem nonsensical and out of this world but Nakamura's work is often rooted in his life experiences. Nakamura abstracts these images and they are reinterpreted through the materiality of the clay and the glazes and underglazes. The dish is a perfect canvas for Nakamura's creative mind.

Artist Statement

"My ceramics are based on personal experiences, situations and desires - sometimes camouflaged by abstraction, sometimes literal. My journey through life is what inspires me and gives birth to my work. Curiosity and wonder sustain me and allow me to move forward. Technically my pieces adhere to the ceramic process, utilizing clay, underglazes, glazes, and the firing process."

Artist Biography

An accomplished artist, Don Nakamura has received many awards, including Fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. He was born in Hawaii and earned his BFA in ceramics from Kansas City Art Institute, and his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art, before moving to Philadelphia where he was a Franklin Mint Fellow Resident Artist at The Clay Studio and is currently an active member of The Clay Studio's artistic community as an Associate Artist. He has had solo shows at The Clay Studio, the Philadelphia Airport, and was part of a two person show at the Cahoon Art Museum in Provincetown, RI.

Donated by the Artist - Don Nakamura

• All winning bids are paid in full before artwork leaves The Clay Studio. Winning Bids are automatically billed at the close of the Auction at 10:30 pm.
• Shipping is NOT included in the winning bid.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
• Items with alcohol CANNOT be shipped.

Flower Pillows

Giselle Hicks

porcelain

each around 8 1/2" W x 3 1/4" D x 5 1/2" H

This set of wall pillows is soft and elegant, and will undoubtedly evoke a sense of serenity and add a gentle touch to the home. The two pieces of this set are similar in color and design, but the added flourishes of geometric patterns, floral motifs, and the differing sculpted flowers make this set diverse and unique. Perhaps placed in the kitchen or in the living room, these wall pillows will effortlessly make your space all the more lively and naturalistic. They are a perfect purchase or gift for any botanical and floral enthusiast.

Artist Statement

Giselle Hicks makes artwork that provides beauty and depth to one's daily life. She believes living with hand-made objects enriches the home with stories, meaning, and connection to a shared human experience. She makes artwork inspired by sculpture, paintings, and iconic forms throughout ceramic history. Her works are formal explorations of shape, volume, color, and composition.Giselle works with design galleries, shops, and interior design firms to place work in hotels, restaurants, and homes.

Artist Biography

Originally from Southern California, Hicks received her BFA from Syracuse University and her MFA from Alfred University in New York. She has participated in various artist-in-residence programs including the Anderson Ranch Art Center, the Arts/Industry Program at the Kohler Company, The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, Greenwich House and The Archie Bray Foundation. Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, The John Michael Kohler Art Center, the Bellevue Art Museum, the Southwest School of Art, the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, and the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.

Giselle currently lives and works in Helena, Montana

From the collection of Arlene and Bernard Solomon

• All winning bids are paid in full before artwork leaves The Clay Studio. Winning Bids are automatically billed at the close of the Auction at 10:30 pm.
• Shipping is NOT included in the winning bid.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
• Items with alcohol CANNOT be shipped.

And a Smile

Craig Clifford

porcelain, glaze
4 1/4"W x 12 1/2" D x 4 3/4"H

Originally created for The Clay Studio's 2012 Small Favors exhibition, this fanciful work by Craig Clifford defies expectations and the boundaries of its container. Each work submitted for Small Favors must fit into a 4" square display cube. While Clifford's sculpture does meet this requirement in width and height, the work extends out from the display and enters the viewer's personal space. Composed of a long blue tower-like textured with a variety of slip-cast objects that create a search-and-find guaranteed to capture the eye. This monochromatic structure culminates in a gathering of kitschy animals: red birds, chubby white bunnies, and a fawn. Alternately contemporary and retro, you won't want to miss your chance to bring home this unique piece!

Artist's Biography

Craig Clifford received his BFA from California State University Long Beach in 2000 and his MFA from Louisiana State University in 2003. He exhibits his work nationally and internationally and has been included in the 2007 and 2009 World Ceramic Biennial in South Korea as well as, Ceramic Top 40, and is a past artist in residence at The Archie Bray Foundation, in Helena Montana and c.r.e.t.a. Rome, in Rome Italy. He is currently in the studio working for upcoming solo exhibitions in 2020 at Tennessee Tech University's, Derryberry Gallery, in Smithville Tennessee. He has taught ceramics and art at California State University Long Beach, USC, Mississippi Valley State University and is currently the head of the ceramics program at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh.

Artist's Statement

I am interested in where high and low culture intersect, how the objects that I make become image-like and how those images carry meaning. My work is an exercise in the transformation of the mundane. As well, it is an investigation into how context, expectation and gaze affect our experience with the objects and images that perhaps go unnoticed and yet surround us throughout the day.
Ultimately my finished ceramic pieces are made from the assemblage of hundreds of slip cast kitsch or low art memorabilia found in commercially produced molds made for the weekend handy-crafter market. I am very interested in building a visual density that confuses the eye and detracts from the original intention of the individual objects. I cut, graft, arrange and rearrange forms that start as one thing and become something quite different by the time I am finished. I will generally work until what I am making is only distantly related to it's origins in things that we know.

Donated by the Artist - Craig Clifford

• All winning bids are paid in full before artwork leaves The Clay Studio. Winning Bids are automatically billed at the close of the Auction at 10:30 pm.
• Shipping is NOT included in the winning bid.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
• Items with alcohol CANNOT be shipped.

Dreams of Julia, c. 2008

Isaiah Zagar

mixed ceramic, wooden frame

29" L x 17" W x 2.25" H

Don't miss your chance to own a piece of Philadelphia history! In a city known for its murals, Isaiah Zagar's work stands out in glittering splendor. This beautiful framed mosaic is indicative of Zagar's practice, bringing together disparate textures, colors, and forms to create an assemblage that demands close looking. At the center of this piece is a large terracotta colored oblong with the artist's self portrait. Similar to Zagar's other self portraits on view at Philadelphia Magic Gardens, this image shows Zagar with four right arms. This representation is meant to convey the artist at work, applying pieces of mosaic at such a speed that it appears as if he has more than just two arms, while also taking inspiration from depictions of the Hindu god Shiva. Beneath the self portrait, a large white tile towards the bottom of the piece reads "DREAM." To the left of this, individual letters spell out the name of Zagar's wife beneath another, smaller figurative piece in teal.

A highlight of The Clay Studio's home for 35 years in Old City was the beloved 4 story stairwell encased in Zagar mosaics. Take this piece of Isaiah Zagar's mosaic as a reminder of the many wonderful creative memories made in that building.

Artist Statement

My whole life as an artist is a journal; the way I'm feeling every day, the way I'm thinking, the things I'm thinking about. They all enter into my work life, into my drawing life, so it's constantly changing. The immediacy of what you're seeing and feeling is your trip, your journey, your journal. You will see what you want to see.

Artist's Biography

Isaiah Zagar was born in 1939 in Philadelphia and raised in Brooklyn. He received his B.F.A. in Painting & Graphic s at the Pratt Institute of Art in New York City. When he was 19 years old, Zagar discovered the art environment of Clarence Schmidt in Woodstock, New York. This shaped his ideas of what art could be and started a lifelong interest in art environments and their creators. Isaiah's work is included in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Fabric Workshop and Museum, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, and the Brandywine Workshop and Archives. He has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Isaiah participated in residences in China and India and completed mosaic commissions throughout the United States and internationally.

From the collection of Arlene and Bernard Solomon

• All winning bids are paid in full before artwork leaves The Clay Studio. Winning Bids are automatically billed at the close of the Auction at 10:30 pm.
• Shipping is NOT included in the winning bid.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
• Items with alcohol CANNOT be shipped.

everything is broke, 2012

Xavier Monsalvatje

earthenware

12.75 H x 0.25 D x 12.25 W

At first glance, this wall-hanging tile merely seems like an imaginative illustration of a city. However, upon closer inspection, we can start to make out the details of a greater narrative-one that is blunt and candid-making use of the various motifs and images to speak to the consequences of our contemporary cities and infrastructure. The tile is filled with black outlined images, becoming one big mixture of events occurring at once. There are puffs of smoke and spills from tanks, and the buildings, stairs, and highways are being braided into each other. A skull is at the forefront of this piece, positioned right in the lower right corner, affirming this messaging as something that we are to take seriously. Xavier was a Guest Artist at The Clay Studio in 2012.

This piece has been professionally repaired in the top left hand side of the tile, see image for reference.

Artist Statement

My work is based on the study of the industrialization process, especially in the architecture that has been generated during this time period. Architecture that has influenced urban planning, landscape, and social lifestyle, and that has generated constructions that evoke cathedrals of a new belief based on the development, growth, and endless enrichment. I have been searching for the aesthetic element of the manifestations of the industrial advance that gave way to the era of technology in which it forms a new face of power and a technocratic society, where citizens survive in this dehumanized post-industrial landscape.

Artist Biography

Xavier Monsalvatje (Godella, Valencia, 1965) graduated in the specialty of artistic ceramics at the School of Applied Arts and Artistic Crafts of Valencia in 1988. He chose ceramics because at that time he was working at a ceramic factory and collaborated with his brother Jorge, also a ceramist. He was a pupil of the ceramist Enric Mestre.

Upon completion of his studies, he obtained a scholarship from the European Union to expand his knowledge of artistic ceramics in Caldas de Rainha, Portugal. In 1989 he was invited to the creative ceramics course at the School of Ceramics in Manises and in 1990 he graduated in the specialty of screen printing at the School of Art and Design in Valencia, since he has always been interested in graphic process. In 1996, he was one of the founding members of the Purgatori Artists Society.

Since 1992 his work has been divided between ceramics, painting, graphic work, drawing and installation, focusing on the study of industrial architecture and urban planning. In 1998 he founded La Corporacion together with other artists to support and safeguard Industrial Heritage.

His work has been included in group exhibitions and is represented in public and private collections in Mexico, Finland, the United States, Portugal, Austria, the Republic of Panama, the Dominican Republic, Chile, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, England, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, China, Mali, Argentina, Ukraine, Croatia, Namibia, Italy, Turkey and Taiwan, among other countries.

Currently he combines his work in the workshop with the teaching of ceramic courses.

Donated by the Artist - Xavier Monsalvatje

• All winning bids are paid in full before artwork leaves The Clay Studio. Winning Bids are automatically billed at the close of the Auction at 10:30 pm.
• Shipping is NOT included in the winning bid.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
• Items with alcohol CANNOT be shipped.

Platter, 1995

Charles Bound

earthenware

3" H x 14.5" W x 15" D

This unique platter by Charles Bound is influenced by the many places that the artist called home - from the United States to England to Africa. Reminiscent of rugged agrarian landscapes, this platter features rich red tones with a large, parchment yellow X just off center. Small touches of moss green, amber, and a smattering of sky blue add a sense of lightness to the work. Designed to hang on the wall, this textural piece has enough character for all to enjoy.

Artist Statement

"Another influence is living and working in Yorkshire" Bound declares. "Nature interests me, the bark of a tree, crude, rough walls, a cliff face, I'd like people to think about these things when they look at my work". Indeed, his work from previous firings, spread around the farm looks strangely at home. Dark textures fit into the livestock-trampled field amid stones, knarled trees and rusting farm machinery. And his kiln, rising half buried out of the soil has the air of an archaeological dig.

Artist Biography

Charles was born in New York City in 1939. After graduating from Union University in 1962 with a degree in English Literature, Charles spent the next three years teaching at secondary level. From 1965 to 1971 he worked for a publishing company, dividing his time between the USA and Africa. By 1972 he was juggling a variety of commitments: teaching, travelling, writing and theatre work, mostly in Kenya.

Charles did not come to study ceramics until 1983, setting up a studio while working as a college technician and teaching. In 1994 he was gifted the use of space on a farm where he could build his own wood fired kiln, which he has been working with since.

He and his wife Joy currently live and work in Wales, UK.

Donated by the Grainer Family.

• All winning bids are paid in full before artwork leaves The Clay Studio. Winning Bids are automatically billed at the close of the Auction at 10:30 pm.
• Shipping is NOT included in the winning bid.
• Items can be packed and shipped, and the winner will pay the cost.
• Items can be picked up at The Clay Studio for no additional cost.
• Items with alcohol CANNOT be shipped.