About
Bio:
Taylor Sijan is a full-time studio artist from Catawba Island, Ohio. She earned a BFA in 3-D Arts from Bowling Green State University (2016) and an MFA with ceramics emphasis from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2021). In 2020, Taylor was named one of Ceramics Monthly’s Emerging Artists. These days, she enjoys traveling to teach techniques to students and has demonstrated at institutions including Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft, Peters Valley School of Craft, Wooten Clayworks, Gasworks NYC, Saratoga Clay Arts Center, Touchstone Center for Crafts, Sugar Maples Center for Creative Arts, Snow Farm, and Hudgens Center for Arts and Learning.
When Taylor’s not in her studio, she is usually gardening, hiking, or spending time with her two cats.
Statement:
I craft richly decorated, functional pottery. Each piece is a confluence of things I find beautiful–asymmetrical compositions, evocative colors, botanical imagery, and fine details–expressed within the parameters of objects intended for active participation in someone’s life.
Balancing comfortable utility and expressive aesthetics is an interesting challenge to navigate because these pots are designed to be used, but paradoxically, decoration is often a signal to someone to not touch. To get people to overcome initial cautiousness, I inspire curiosity through complexity and mystery by selectively hiding and/or highlighting the many techniques I use throughout my process. I begin with throwing, altering, and handbuilding to construct soft forms that are then adorned with layered ornamentation. The surface compositions are a collage of contrasting organic and geometric motifs that are painted, slip trailed, carved, and stamped. By weaving raised and recessed methods of mark-making asymmetrically around the vessels, I cultivate visual and tactile appeal to encourage a viewer’s eyes and hands to roam around the form, into the interior, and underneath.
For process photos and regular updates, follow me on Instagram or check out my most recent photos below:
