Join us for an artist talk with visiting artist in Ceramics, Matt Wedel. This lecture is a part of the Kent Blossom Art Lecture Series where visiting artists come from all over the country to teach workshops and give lectures at Kent State University’s School of Art. All lectures begin at 6:00 p.m. in room 165 at the Center for the Visual Arts (325 Terrace Dr. in Kent, Ohio) and are FREE and open to the public.

Having grown up around his father’s pottery studio, ceramic artist Matt Wedel has long understood and respected both the intrinsic properties of the material and the element of chance that accompanies the process of firing and glazing the clay. Stepping away from the notion of ceramics as a functional craft, Wedel’s art enters the realm of mythological creation stories. Intent on recreating the world from mud or clay, he intricately models vegetation, minerals, and animals—all of which, while familiar, suggest they have roots in the unknown. His works are complex yet fluid with simple but commanding saturated color. Recognizing that “there is baggage with being a medium-specific ceramic artist today,” Wedel states his art strives to “explore the medium and expand on [its] history.”