About

Mat Wheeler obtained his BFA from Northern Arizona University and his MFA from Indiana University. His practice is based primarily in making pottery. Working with persistent pottery forms seen throughout many cultures and times he incorporates formal abstractions that emphasize the anthropomorphic language used to describe pottery.

Mat is currently a visiting assistant professor at East Tennessee State University. His current research is focused on manipulated pottery forms, glaze, and reduction cooled soda firings.

The work I create grows from ceramic history and persistent forms found within. These forms seem to transcend time and culture, continually being reproduced. To me these pottery forms are archetypal. I find endless inspiration therein due to their resolution of form, which seem to have reached a pinnacle. Within my practice I use these archetypal forms as a foundation from which to explore from. I manipulate extensions and components to discover new relationships and convey new meanings. These formal choices evoke bodies, landscapes, architecture, and express the idiosyncrasies of clay. This creative process is intuitive and abstract. I root my work within the tradition of pottery because I am a potter. As an artist I seek to discover newfound ways of expression.

Utility is a point of tension within my work. I swing back and forth using it varyingly in different modalities within my practice. Sometimes its presence is ambiguous, often it is very clear. Utility brings a wonderful sense of purpose and clear direction when used as a guiding principle. I am always making aesthetic choices that create a slight to great tension challenging an object’s utilitarian presence. However, even my most abstract vessels can still contain, providing a type of utility. I find that I cannot completely abandon my ethos which is based upon the usefulness of pottery.

The sculptures I make use of this convergence of familiar and ambiguous to create a sense of obscurity for the viewer. I want the work to have an open-endedness which relies upon the viewers creativity and imagination to strive towards resolution. I experience pareidolia while I manifest my work in my studio, this is compelling and creates a sense of excitement for me as I create. I know that these moments will not directly translate when seen, as people bring their own visual experiences when investigating these objects. I find elation in the idea that abstractions and arrangements of forms can allow for novel narratives, or sense of familiarity, to be arrived at through viewing.