Choplet Ceramics Instructors

Nadeige Choplet

Working in clay is a joy, but also a struggle, always daring me to move forward to new possibilites. My ceramics work is a reflection of my background in textile design and painting. While exploring the aesthetic relationship between design and surfaces, I use the clay as a canvas. I strive for simplicity of form to balance the complexity of my paintings. The terra sigilatta process allows me great control over the image while remaining undoubtedly ceramic.

Nadeige Choplet is an exhibiting ceramicist with 10 years teaching experience. She received an MFA from l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a Fulbright Scholarship recipient. She is currently a ceramics and sculpture professor at Lehman College and Manhattanville College and sells her work at galleries all over the United States.

Damien Garcia

I have approached my expressive style in art through my life experiences and the world around me. I capture moments in time that are at a peak of emotion. It is the way you sit uncomfortably in a room when you feel disconnected, or the bliss of satisfaction from embracing something that touches you. Either situation leaves a moment of realization that brings out a truth that can not be hidden by reaction.

Painting brings exact reflections. A representation through paint on paper can present life with a limitless pallet for expression of emotions, feelings, thoughts, and dreams. The idea is to see reality in a single state that represents a time. It is something to laugh back at because it is so serious for that moment. When a reality is exposed, there is an essence of humanity that will stand as long as the memory of the observer. I observe to find truth in reaction to life.

Brandi Kowalski

The earth pulls me in different directions instead of resisting I flow. I am an artist. My deepest concentration is within ceramics. My first experience with clay was in high school. This interest lead me into a ceramics studio in a neighboring town, Boonton. This is where I began as a studio and gallery assistant. That was eleven years ago. I have spent years in Colorado and came back to New York to become a vegetarian/vegan chef. Where ever I live and whatever my occupation is, I am always hand building, sculpting, and throwing ceramics. I can fire low/high fire oxidation, high fire gas, and raku kilns.

Jessica Cohen

Creating an art piece able to withstand the dishwasher truly intrigues me. I love being able to directly integrate my art into my life. After majoring in painting and sculpture at Grinnell College in Iowa, I was drawn to ceramics for both its functional and non-functional qualities. Instead of just looking at my art on the wall or enjoying a three dimensional sculpture, I can actually eat my dinner off a blue hairs plate, sip my coffee out of a pod cup, and bring my potluck pasta in a grand server bowl.

In my recent work I explore additions and subtractions on the surfaces of wheel thrown works. I am in the process of creating a palette of different textures, which I will use to decorate and transform thrown pieces. Works where I have been adding clay to the surface become less functional than works where I choose to carve away at the surface. The carvings on my more functional pieces create a playful texture than can be enjoyed when sipping a drink, while my less functional works stand alone as individual art pieces.

Brooke Winfrey

My experience with clay has been focused on exploring its limitations and complexities. I am drawn toward examining the functionality of ceramic pieces because so much of the focus with ceramics is on functionality. I manipulate wheel thrown pieces, which are traditionally symmetrical, usable forms, to explore and exploit what their function could be, though reaching that potential after becoming so contorted is difficult. The pieces become organic but retain the essence of being a vessel. This process allows me to examine the intimate way in which we interact with pottery as a cup or bowl and reevaluate it.

Keith Yzquierdo

Keith believes that people are happier when surrounded by beauty. ÝIt matters not what is the source of this beauty, only that its presence be tangible. ÝProducing handmade functional ceramics is Keith's way of incorporating beautiful things into people's everyday lives. ÝHis current pursuits involve wheel thrown pieces which are often altered by hand in order to highlight the personality of the piece without impacting its function.

Larisa Daiga

With my work I am constantly searching to push the limits; pushing the boundaries of how the piece is utilized, pushing to see how much detail I can include before it is too much, and pushing to see how simple I can make it before it is too little. I normally begin a piece on the wheel and then take the piece to the next level by adding hand built pieces, manipulating the form, or focusing on surface decoration. Everything that I make is functional and my goal is to create something that is both interesting to view and to use. I am constantly trying to learn more about clay and expand my methods and techniques, and I love sharing this adventure with others.
I received a B.A. in industrial design from Purdue University and currently work professionally as a graphic designer.ÝI have been accepted into the MFA in Ceramics Program at the Royal College Academy in London for September 2010. I have shown my work at the Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis Art Center, MDH Fine Arts in Chelsea, and recently opened my first solo show "The Way I See It" here at Choplet. In 2008, I had the opportunity to be a featured artist at a Global Goods Partners benefit, where I threw pots along to live music at The Living Room in Manhattan. This experience is a real reflection of my approach to ceramics, taking something traditional and doing it untraditionally.

Bobby Croze

I have been in love, and working with clay for thirteen years. It all started in vermont, where i met this wonderful instructor that taught me clay can take you places you never thought possible. We built a wood fire kiln on a farm and harvested our own clay on site near the riverbed. This is how i started my journey. Now i like to teach in a way that frees people from there mind, and let go and see where the clay will take them. When you are truly present with the clay, it will guide you. Letting go of your limitations. I like to focus on the curves and symetry of the clay, and teach in a way that helps each person find their individual voice and style through the art of ceramics.

Biata Broytburd

Through altered figurative forms, some more abstracted than others my sculptures convey feelings of guilt, acceptance, and seduction. I feel drawn into a world where any form could be real and alive. By embracing the voluptuousness of the human body I compose repetitive forms that are provocative in their abstraction.

Cassandra Kellam

I am compelled by the literal qualities and symbolic implications of functional objects. Mold-making and slip-casting are essential to my process of rendering form. Translating objects by casting, adjusting, re-casting, and repeating is vital. Seeing repetition of forms allows me to become sensitive to their alterations as I am constantly in contact with them.
I enjoy leaving clues within my work which transcend the object and reach the user, perhaps bring them closer to my experience in the studio. Marking lines in luster reveals aspects of process and mistakes which are the unavoidable bi-products of experimentation. By highlighting those details, my goal is to bring the user closer to the maker. I seek to use the object as a conduit, transcending it and ultimately finding myself in the user's home. Whether someone is privy to the process, that the luster can be seen as a pattern or narrative is an interesting notion for me as an artist.