Artist Curtis Benzle tests the limits of clay, creating luminous, translucent porcelain pieces that combine inner and outer worlds, light and shadow, reality and emotion. To see more of his work, visit his website.
“Dificilisimo” Porcelain, 5” x 4.5” x 2.5”
I have had an extensive and varied career as an artist and have always worked in porcelain.
“Mundo Dorado” Porcelain, 12” x 7” x 3.5”
From the tactile magic of malleable clay, to the visual temptation of the luminous, fused silica in translucent porcelain, this material excites my senses and stimulates a creative mind.
“Mundo Dorado” Porcelain, (Detail)
Specific inspiration for my work reads like a journey through the annals of ceramic art history.
“Lavender Seas” Porcelain, 16” x 7” x 5”
An early encounter with the “eggshell” wares of Asia encouraged me to test the limits of both myself and my materials. The Momoyama and Muromachi periods in Japan, with their integration of chance occurrence as a vital part of the creative process, led me to an acceptance of the physical limits of clay.
“Lepidoptera Redux” Porcelain, 12” x 7” x 3.5”
This also opened the door to the sophisticated celebration, through Kintsugi repair practice, of an understanding that those limits are the nexus of a personal pursuit of perfection and porcelain’s eventual submission to the molecular strain of extreme temperature and quartz inversion.
“Alhambra Lux” Porcelain, (Detail)
My production studio, Benzle Porcelain, was carried in over five hundred shops throughout the United States. When I married and moved to Alabama in 2007, I closed the production studio and now focus exclusively on creating sculpture and architectural scale lighting.
“Autumnal Glow” Porcelain, 4’
I sell through only two galleries, the Sherrie Gallerie in Columbus, Ohio and the Plinth Gallery in Denver, Colorado.
“Luminous Sculpture” Porcelain, 6’
I am very fortunate to be represented in major museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Smithsonian, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza, Italy and the Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taipei, Taiwan.
“Leaf Sconce” Porcelain, 13” x 8” x 7”
Following a twenty-five year career at the Columbus College of Art and Design I am now a Professor Emeritus. I continue to teach workshops on porcelain and colored clay techniques. My next workshop is in Certaldo, Italy at the La Meridiana School of Ceramics, May 19-25, 2019.
“Leaf Sconce” Porcelain, (Detail)
And I appreciate the value of “giving back.” I am currently the President of the Alabama Craft Council, a former Trustee of the American Craft Council, past Board President and Co-Director of Ohio Designer Craftsmen and on the Board of the Craft Emergency Relief Fund.
Artist Curtis Benzle
I understand that a career in the visual arts is a life-long process of learning, creating and sharing. These behaviors, taken together, help balance the hours of work and all-too-common financial challenges that we all face.
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