Patrick Coughlin
Japanese Architectural Study 4
2016
Japanese Earthenware, Washi
9 x 12 x 10"

About the work
Patrick Coughlin's work examines the ubiquitous, mundane, and inconspicuous aspects of our material culture and the domestic spaces that house it. Our Homes and shared spaces along with the objects that fill them exist in the realm of magical science. Their origins are opaque and byzantine, our most essential tools are incomprehensible in their making, while automation makes the labor we do increasingly unnecessary. Our buildings and tools no longer need human skill. The empty glamour and effortlessness of this modernity has disconnected our psyche from the physical, sensual world. By abstracting structural joinery, furniture, and the body we are asked to see the hidden complexities and humanity in the ubiquitous. Through this contextualization of architecture, domestic objects, and craft sensibilities, Patrick's work explores the precarious relationships with the natural world and our own self agency.

Bio

Patrick Coughlin (born 1981, New York) is an American artist. He has exhibited work in China, Italy, and throughout the United States. Originally from rural, western New York, Patrick's research practice is heavily influenced by that community's relationship to material culture, and labor. Patrick's studio practice currently resides in Philadelphia Pennsylvania where he is a professor at Saint Josephs University, and The University of the Arts . Prior to moving to Philadelphia Patrick lived and worked in Jingdezhen, the ceramic center of China. As an assistant in the design studio he worked with local craftsmen in the production of ceramic design goods for a global market while also assisting in the management of the Education Center, facilitating international exchange and instruction. He has attended residencies in Tokoname Japan, Rome Italy, and across the United Sates, and has been a visiting lecturer at Ewha Womans University in Seoul South Korea, The University of Montana, and Buffalo State University in the United States.

www.patrickcoughlin.com