Laura Williams | Episode 1183
Laura Williams is a UK born, US based ceramic artist whose practice explores material, narrative, color, and play. Laura studied ceramics at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and has worked as a ceramics educator for the last decade. Laura co-founded the Chicago Ceramics Crawl after teaching at many of Chicago’s community art centers. The tour aims to connect and celebrate the city’s clay community. Laura is interested in the way clay records our every choice… throw lines, finger prints, brush strokes, and sometimes our moods.
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How has traveling influenced your making?
It’s pretty early still, but with this batch it definitely feels like it’s a lot of making at once because there’s only a two week window and then I don’t know when I will be able to do it again. I haven’t done much making at the different campsites we’ve been at. When we were in Madison over the summer there were so many mosquitoes that I got a studio membership at the Kiln Shed out there and made work there for the summer.
Has traveling led you to have to compromise the ways that you make for your style or your voice?
No, not really. I just make less.
You are a hand-builder, correct?
I do both.
So for hand-building you could pull out the boxes and work right there at the campsite.
Absolutely.
Minus the mosquitoes, right?
Right. And the cold. Now that it’s getting cold. (Laughter) But yeah, absolutely, I can make anywhere.
How does being a maker on the road influences how you are actually teaching? Like knowing that you have a class going on, does that impact the way that you are going to explain how to do things and then students are going to be watching you later? Does that make you change the things that you would teach?
Not really, because the teaching, the class is centered around ideas, so narrative clay, for example, is focused on how we can story tell in ceramics. And maybe a happening . So maybe a comic will be about being in a trailer, going camping or whatever. It’s not so much that the rhythm has been thrown off from the teaching, but the class is centered around ideas.
Your work is distinct. It’s not like everybody else. When you become a teaching potter, you can’t help but teach your voice and what does that do for people learning to make your work?
Well, I definitely don’t teach people how to make my work, intentionally. I have definitely taken classes from people and thought it was helpful to hear insights about what they are thinking about when they are making and I try to provide that for students. But generally when they are coming to my classes I think they are wanting to learn to cartoon on clay or learn how to pinch more weird, abstract things. I try it focus in them and what they are thinking about.
You have the entire United States mapped out in front of you. Where would be your dream place to teach?
My gosh, that I am shy to answer. I would love to teach someday at Haystack Rock. That would be special. That’s when I have figured myself out, you know. The lore of Haystack, that it started as Black Mountain college and become what it is now. I went there in 2019 and assisted in a workshop and I was blown away about how magical it is.
Etsy: laurawilliamsstudio.com
Instagram: @laura.williams.studio
