MAY 31 – JULY 3
Sales Gallery & Online
Kevin Caufield, Wendy Eggerman, Taylor Sijan, David Swenson
Jewelry: Heather Nameth Bren
Kevin Caufield, Wendy Eggerman, Taylor Sijan, David Swenson
Jewelry: Heather Nameth Bren
Kevin Caufield
Kevin Caufield has been a full-time artist and teacher for over 41 years. Caufield is known for functional porcelain and stoneware pottery, custom dinnerware, and his custom-designed restaurant tableware. His work is collected nationally and internationally. Caufield is a popular ceramic instructor for all levels of students, and he teaches classes and gives workshops worldwide. Caufield apprenticed with the late Robert Eckels in the 1970s. Since then, he has been living and working in the Twin Cities. He opened his 1600 sq ft studio gallery in St. Paul in 2013.
Heather Nameth Bren
Heather Nameth Bren received an MFA in ceramics from the University of Kansas in 2003. Since then, Bren has received grants through the Jerome and McKnight Foundations and has been recognized as a Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist. She is a 2013 recipient of a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant which funded her research on Delft tiles. Her creative practice and ceramic exploration are diverse, including ceramic jewelry, installation, functional ware, and her most recent “tile paintings.” Bren’s tile paintings explore the relationship of inner trauma to external environments and conditions. In contrast, Bren’s “uncentered centering cups” encourage and affirm the user with playful imagery, cheeky quips, and glitter glaze. In addition to her studio practice, Bren has been a professor of art since 2007. She currently teaches at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Wendy Eggerman
Minnesota native Wendy Eggerman first fell in love with pottery while attending Warren Wilson College in the mountains of North Carolina. Since then, her work has been exhibited nationally and she has been an active ceramic artist in a variety of studios. Eggerman’s work is primarily influenced by her love of antiques, especially hobnail glass. Tactility and functionality guide her practical, elegant aesthetic. Eggerman’s pots are brushed with a terra sigillata finish on the exterior and seasoned with coconut oil. Over time they will acquire a patina and grow more beautiful, visually developing with use, as an heirloom might collect stories through generations.
Taylor Sijan
Originally from the shores of Lake Erie and the forests of northern Ohio, Taylor Sijan received her BFA in ceramics and metalsmithing in 2016 from Bowling Green State University, Ohio. Upon graduating, she relocated to Wichita, Kansas for a two-year post-baccalaureate program at Wichita State University, where she studied wood- and soda-fired pottery. In 2021, Sijan received her MFA in ceramics from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Sijan works in porcelain with asymmetrical and altered forms that she hopes encourage touch and approachability. Her vessels are designed to foster full spectrum sensual experiences, and celebrate a reverence for plants, nourishment, and functional beauty. Her colorful and intricate surfaces reference her passion for the cross-cultural history of medicinal herbology with a process of symbolic decoration that includes laser-cut stencils of actual plants.
David Swenson
David Swenson is a Clearwater and Minneapolis, Minnesota-based ceramist and instructor. Since moving to Minnesota in 2009, he has lived and worked in the Twin Cities area teaching ceramics in community education and many after-school programs. His hand-painted work is embellished with historical motifs and techniques researched from many cultures, while maintaining an eclectic and modern aesthetic.