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Author Profile
Randi O'Brien

Randi O’Brien is a multiracial ceramic artist, historian, author, professor, and administrator from the Rocky Mountains. She earned both an MFA in ceramics and an MA in art history from the University of Montana. O’Brien is currently an associate professor and head of the ceramics, sculpture, and jewelry program at Irvine Valley College in Orange County, California. She is also the executive director and editor of Studio Potter

O’Brien exhibits across the United States and globally; selected locations include: Kilkenny, Ireland; Valparaiso, Chile; Alberta, Canada; and New York, among other states in the US. O'Brien has curated numerous exhibitions and has presented her research on ceramics at conferences and for organizations, including: NCECA, the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame, The Women as Change Makers Summit, Montana Education Association, Xuchang International University, Ceramics Ireland's International Ceramic Festival, among others. Her research has been published in Ceramics MonthlyCeramics: Art and Perception: Technical, Ceramics Ireland, and Studio Potter.

A descendant of early Hispano settlers and Indigenous American ancestry on her maternal side, paired with a paternal heritage of eighteenth-century English settlers, O'Brien celebrates the different expressions of what it means to perpetually move between cultures and her multiracial identity.

Articles

What if value was not placed on objects but, instead, on investment in social restoration? Through discursive thinking, critical inquiry, and the functions of a cup, Hughes and Ginsburg have done just that.
"My artwork is a record of my experiences as an Afro-Latina American, I embrace my naturally curly hair, heritage, womanhood, and at times current worldly struggles." - Michelle Ettrick FREE ARTICLE!
This is a protest against the mindset of “It’s only them, and not us.” Because it can be everybody and because it needs to be all of us. The contemporary silent witness sees all of our communal experience and will tell our stories, transforming one of the darkest times of human history into something galvanizing.
"I consider design an approach that needs and includes art. Many of my projects started as works of art that evoked the dynamism of African narratives. My creative process and the development of the projects have made me answer people's needs, such as tableware that tells their stories." – Faty Ly
Michael Chukes
“I am one of the fortunate ones. Had I believed what I was being taught in school, I would never have known the true meaning and greatness of my last name, “Chukes.” – Michael Chukes
Tyler-James Anderson at Odyssey ClayWorks
The fact that there's so much good work coming out of North Carolina, both currently and historically, has set a high bar. I find it inspiring. I was trying to think of the word for this, but my motivation is fueled by whatever the friendlier version of competition is. I think there is a certain degree of “surround yourself with people better than you,” and then you rise with the tide. I think this has influenced me the most.
Gillan Doty
We were trapped at our house because trees fell in both directions on the road we live on, so we couldn't leave for a few days. The destruction was incredible.
Sara Ballek
Later that night, we could hear the winds start to come; we could hear trees falling and transformers blowing outside. It was surreal. You think, "There is no way I'm hearing that many trees falling outside."
Eliana Rodriguez
I'm trying to figure out how to honor what I have with this limited material. I don't know when they'll make more; if they'll ever reopen; when or if they will get a chance to make it again; if it will ever be the same.
Julianna Chioma in her studio.
One aspect of the work stems from a collective lens of trauma, but the pendulum also swings in the direction of healing and vitality. It starts with me, but I'm just one smattering of molecules of the same experience we all partake in as humans. You're right; it’s probably too early to tell because my body is still in shock from the whole experience, or not even in shock, just like on autopilot survival.
Molly Morningglory and studio crew in front of Arrowhead Gallery and Studio. Photo courtesy of Mike Conley at McDowell News.
I've been thinking a lot about comfort and the things that bring me comfort, joy, and pleasure – the sustainability of emotion. Emotional spaces act like weather; you experience the motion, but it moves through you. If you don't attach yourself to it, then you have more flexibility and more resiliency. But as far as going through a traumatic event like a natural disaster, this comes with a complex set of indescribably difficult emotions. Then, if that is sustained over time, and throw in the fact that you don't have much control over your circumstances, how do you facilitate the movement of those emotions through your body so that you can have or create or jump-start the resiliency?
Melissa Weiss
I honestly feel so fortunate, considering what happened, what people went through in the flood, and what people are going through worldwide. I lost my studio. I lost a studio that I put everything into for the past eleven years. I lost a lot of things and a beautiful space to work; we had a garden, an incredible space that we had worked endlessly on for over a decade. This is all so terribly sad, but we are still lucky.
Akira Satake joined by the gallery team for flood recovery.
This is what I always tell my students: Nature is a distant force. The wind blows from the sky, and the landscape pushes the land from miles away. A line of sand in the desert, the wind blows and makes these lines. The rain hits the wall of a house, causing a patina. All of those things are a distance force, and I like to do that to my work.