Chuck Pate

It’s my 5th birthday and I watch my grandfather carefully apply his white face clown make-up. He has a box of oddly shaped sponges and paints of all colors. The process is tedious, but when finished, his face is distinctly his own. I am 16 and just bought my first car. My father opens his toolbox, and we start to sand, shape, and straighten my “new” Malibu. The lines must be perfect before we can paint. Like my father and grandfather, I am obsessed with process. I reach into my bucket of tools to work the stoneware into shapes reflective of history but distinctly my own. The wood I chop, the days in front of my anagama kiln, are imperative for the surfaces I call for in my work. My functional work demonstrates the classical shapes of traditional Japanese wares. My sculptural work is playful, inverting forms and capturing breath in solid clay. In my work I am inspired by the perfect-imperfection created by hand-building and atmospheric firing. With each piece, I hope to share this balance of beauty and imperfection with others.


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