RUTH EASTERBROOK
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Ruth Easterbrook is a studio artist based in Philadelphia. She earned her MFA from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and her BFA from Syracuse University. She has shown her work across the United States, including at Market House Craft Center (Lancaster, PA; 2020) and Charlie Cummings Gallery (Gainesville, FL; 2020). She has held numerous artist residencies, including at the Harvard Ceramics Program, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and The Clay Studio in Philadelphia.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Pottery is a living art in its ability to enhance our daily lives. My forms embody generosity and communicate utility that welcomes interaction. With sturdiness and thoughtful volume, my pots welcome being held, and lend themselves to continual use from the table, to the sink, and back again.
My surfaces are a subtle and complex tangle of floral motifs, designed and adapted from the natural and art worlds. These flowers connect me with my childhood growing up in the rural hills of California. Wildflowers represent place and time through their cycle from seed to bloom rooted in their environment of soil and climate. Their resilience gives me hope as I witness them emerging through the frozen ground in spring or returning to their familiar spot after a devastating wildfire. Captured in glaze, my designs bring the joy of spring and summer all year round.
Using a palette of glazes from matte to glossy I map out the decoration with the intent of collaborating with the heat in the kiln to flux and move glaze across surfaces. I welcome happenstance and embrace the power of the heat as it transforms wet earth to ceramic and ground rocks to a multitude of glazes.