2022 Emerging Artist: Galen Sedberry Galen Sedberry
Appears in the May 2022 issue of Ceramics Monthly.
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Galen Sedberry, Burnsville, North Carolina
Ceramics Monthly: What is the most valuable advice you’ve received as an artist?
Galen Sedberry: Possibly the best piece of advice I have received as an artist is this: Don’t concern yourself with trends. I think it can be easy to fall into adjusting what you choose to make, subconsciously or otherwise, based on what’s popular or what appeals to a wider audience. With all of the upsides of social media and the incredible breadth of contemporary ceramics we have access to, trying to exist in that space can also feel like trying to board a fast-moving train and can engender something that looks too much like competition. I try to hold to the maxim of simply attempting to make work I believe in and that feels honest.
CM: What role do you think makers play within our current culture? How do you think you contribute to it?
GS: In light of the seemingly endless conflict, privation, and heartache that has marked our recent history, it’s been tough at times not to feel like the work I’m doing is insignificant. Putting handles on a ware board full of mugs when people are battling a global pandemic, or fighting racial inequity, or fleeing the violence of war can shrink you right down. I can’t imagine I’m alone in experiencing that feeling. Makers have the opportunity to help heal, however, by manifesting ideas and emotions into the world through physical objects that transcend time, culture, and language. I don’t need to know another potter to feel connected in some small way when I’m washing dishes and turn their pot over in my hands in a quiet moment before putting it away. Holding an object made by another human being engages us in the universal language of empathy and reflects our own humanity back at us.
Learn more at www.sedberrypottery.com.
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