Artist: Kate Marotz
Kate Marotz, WISCONSIN
Bio
Kate grew up in Marshfield, Wisconsin before attending UW-Stout where she earned a BFA with an emphasis in Ceramics and BS in Art Education. Post graduation, she switched from throwing to hand building and from porcelain to stoneware. Kate currently lives in Marshfield, WI where she works full-time in her home studio. Her pinch pots combine sculptural qualities with functional objects and preserves the handbuilding process on the finished terra sigillata surfaces. Bones, seed pods, chrysalides, and other vessels found in nature provide inspiration for these objects.
Artist Statement
The role of ceramic pots in daily life serves as a source of inspiration in my continued exploration of functional ware.
I make functional stoneware pots that formally draw from rural Wisconsin’s cocoons/chrysalides, bones, and seed pods. On long walks in Wisconsin’s landscape, I find joy in the smaller details of the land: stones, wild flowers, birds nests, and tree bark become focal points of my excursions. Incorporating these surfaces, forms, and patterns in my work is my invitation to join me in the intimate moment of discovery.
I use a coil and pinch technique to highlight joinery and record the interaction of fingers and pliable clay. Stacked concave curves evolve into rhythmic forms with handles that reinforce the illusion of accordion-like compression. I am interested in the volume and negative space created by the repetition of these curves as well as the interplay created when multiple pieces are in proximity to one another. Every vantage point of each piece reveals information, rewarding the investigative user.
My terra sigillata color palette is that of wild flowers, animal bones, leaves, and stones. Subtle and distinct color shifts encourage closer inspection, consideration and reflection. Simple patterns disrupt the visuals of the forms, maintaining their path, unaffected by the undulations of the form. Borax washes adds quiet patterned layers and bone-like speckling. The care and thoughtfulness invested in creation is a celebration of my genuine interest in the details of daily life.
Resume
EDUCATION
Jan - Dec 2023 Clay Cohorts Program - mentee of Simon Levin Sept 2010 - May 2015 UW-Stout, Menomonie, WI - BFA Studio Art & BS Art Education
INVITATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
2024 - CUPful Show, Cedar Creek Gallery, Creedmoor, NC
Clay Cohorts, Good Earth Pottery, Bellingham, WA
2023 - Winter Exhibition, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
Cups, Abel Contemporary, Stoughton, WI
20th Annual Ceramics Invitational, Abel Contemporary, Stoughton, WI Teapots, Abel Contemporary, Stoughton, WI
2022 - Annual Cup Show, Worcester Center for Crafts, Worcester, MA
Marsh Impressions, Lucille-Tack Center for the Arts, Spencer, WI
Materials VII, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
JURIED EXHIBITIONS
2023 - Teapot X, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD
Strictly Functional Pottery National, Lancaster Creative Factory, Lancaster, PA Regeneration, Center for Visual Arts, Wausau, WI
Pitcher Perfect, Good Earth Pottery, Bellingham, WA
Lushly, Fern, Cincinnati, OH
2022 - It's Only Clay, Watermark Art Center, Bemidgi, MN
Roots, Center for Visual Arts, Wausau, WI
Members Exhibition, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
Last Call VII, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
Mug Madness, Saltstone Ceramics, Seattle, WA
International Cup 2022, Clay Studio of Missoula, Missoula, MT
2021 - ICAN 2nd Annual Holiday Cup Show, Online Exhibition National Juried VI, Red Lodge Clay Center, Red Lodge, MT Ware/Wear, Pocosin Arts School, Columbia, NC
Last Call VI, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN
Small Favors, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
2019 - UW-Stout Alumni Exhibition, NCECA, Minneapolis, MN 2018 - Art Educator Exhibition, Center for Visual Arts, Wausau, WI 2016 - National Juried Student Exhibition, NCECA, Kansas City, MO
AWARDS
2023 - Purchase Award, Strictly Functional, Lancaster Creative Factory
PUBLICATIONS
2022 - Clay Culture, Ceramics Monthly, October Issue
Artist Spotlight, Studio Talk, suppl print: Ceramics Monthly June Issue Potluck, Pottery Making Illustrated, January/February Issue 2021 - Emerging Artist, Ceramics Monthly, May Issue
GALLERY REPRESENTATION
Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA Plough Gallery, Tifton, GA
LUX Center for the Arts, Lincoln, NE Carbondale Clay Center, Carbondale, CO
SELECTED ART EVENTS
2023 - MKE Studio Tour, Milwaukee, WI
Plinth Gallery, Denver, CO
Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN Abel Contemporary, Stoughton, WI
River Valley Pottery Tour, Marine on St. Croix, MN 2022 - River Valley Pottery Tour, Marine on St. Croix, MN Morning Glory Arts Festival, Milwaukee, WI Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, CO
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Dec 2021 - Present Wisconsin Craft
WORK EXPERIENCE
Jan 2021 - Present Marotz Ceramics, Marshfield, WI — Studio Potter
June 13-16, 2022 Women Working with Clay Symposium, Roanoke, VA — Studio Assistant to Margaret Bohls
July 2015 - June 2023 High School, Marshfield and Mosinee, WI — Art Teacher