The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.
Ceramics Monthly: What topics are central to your work and/or research as an artist and why?
Tyler Quintin: My work tends to focus on identity, with a specific interest in the internet’s role in navigating and defining identity. The work in this feature primarily focuses on my mixed-race Korean-American identity, which
is explored through an ongoing series of sculptural vessels and figurative sculpture.
Periodically, I would research my Korean heritage by looking up various myths, historical vessels and their uses, and symbols, and end the research in a paradox. I would be a little more informed, yet even more lost. Research is no substitute for lived
experiences, and having grown up in a predominantly white, midwestern family, I felt entirely disconnected. With this in mind, I began making traditional Korean vessel forms out of fine sticks of clay. The visual execution of these vessels is inspired
by the wire-frame structures seen in 3D-modeling software. In my view, the internet was a window through which I saw glimpses of my cultural heritage, so the work should have a digital aesthetic. By making a recognizable framework of a Korean vessel
form, but making it in such a way that no traditional pattern or imagery could be placed upon the surface, these vessels would act as a portrait for a Korean body that lacked the cultural background and Korean language.
In making these vessels, I feel that I’ve begun to form my own relationships with these historical forms. I also decided I should focus less on what I lack and start thinking about my own claims to my heritage. I view the swirling clouds that engulf
the structures as thought bubbles that represent this new development and reclamation of the vessel’s surface.
Additionally, my figurative works take a more narrative approach. With the online community having been crucial in the way I shaped my identity, I’m interested in character avatars and icons used in digital spaces, as well as mythologies and modern
interpretations of these myths in media. My figures are partially rendered with exposed wire frames and are often fragmented. These aesthetic choices are meant to convey building clarity of a subject or relationship, while also acknowledging that
there are parts left unclear or missing altogether.
CM: What techniques do you use to make your work and why?
TQ: I think the most notable technique I use is how I build my wire-frame elements. I build off of leather-hard forms using bone-dry sticks of clay and slip. Whether figure or vessel, since my inspiration comes from the internet, I want
the work to have a sense of artificiality.
CM: What excites you most about the field of ceramics?
TQ: What excites me the most about the field of ceramics is the seemingly endless amount of sharing and learning in the clay community. I’ve gotten to work alongside so many amazing individuals while participating in various residency
programs, which has impacted my practice significantly. For example, in the past couple of years I’ve learned so much about mold making, slip casting, and firing in atmospheric kilns. This has provided me with a production line of work and also
greatly impacted my approach to form and surface.
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The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.
Ceramics Monthly: What topics are central to your work and/or research as an artist and why?
Tyler Quintin: My work tends to focus on identity, with a specific interest in the internet’s role in navigating and defining identity. The work in this feature primarily focuses on my mixed-race Korean-American identity, which is explored through an ongoing series of sculptural vessels and figurative sculpture.
Periodically, I would research my Korean heritage by looking up various myths, historical vessels and their uses, and symbols, and end the research in a paradox. I would be a little more informed, yet even more lost. Research is no substitute for lived experiences, and having grown up in a predominantly white, midwestern family, I felt entirely disconnected. With this in mind, I began making traditional Korean vessel forms out of fine sticks of clay. The visual execution of these vessels is inspired by the wire-frame structures seen in 3D-modeling software. In my view, the internet was a window through which I saw glimpses of my cultural heritage, so the work should have a digital aesthetic. By making a recognizable framework of a Korean vessel form, but making it in such a way that no traditional pattern or imagery could be placed upon the surface, these vessels would act as a portrait for a Korean body that lacked the cultural background and Korean language.
In making these vessels, I feel that I’ve begun to form my own relationships with these historical forms. I also decided I should focus less on what I lack and start thinking about my own claims to my heritage. I view the swirling clouds that engulf the structures as thought bubbles that represent this new development and reclamation of the vessel’s surface.
Additionally, my figurative works take a more narrative approach. With the online community having been crucial in the way I shaped my identity, I’m interested in character avatars and icons used in digital spaces, as well as mythologies and modern interpretations of these myths in media. My figures are partially rendered with exposed wire frames and are often fragmented. These aesthetic choices are meant to convey building clarity of a subject or relationship, while also acknowledging that there are parts left unclear or missing altogether.
CM: What techniques do you use to make your work and why?
TQ: I think the most notable technique I use is how I build my wire-frame elements. I build off of leather-hard forms using bone-dry sticks of clay and slip. Whether figure or vessel, since my inspiration comes from the internet, I want the work to have a sense of artificiality.
CM: What excites you most about the field of ceramics?
TQ: What excites me the most about the field of ceramics is the seemingly endless amount of sharing and learning in the clay community. I’ve gotten to work alongside so many amazing individuals while participating in various residency programs, which has impacted my practice significantly. For example, in the past couple of years I’ve learned so much about mold making, slip casting, and firing in atmospheric kilns. This has provided me with a production line of work and also greatly impacted my approach to form and surface.
Learn more at tylerquintin.com.
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