🎧 2026 Emerging Artist: Kate Sutter, Meadville, Pennsylvania Ceramics Monthly

The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.

Ceramics Monthly: What role does research play in your practice?

Kate Sutter: I’ve been researching glaze as form since 2020. My background in biochemistry taught me to consider structures as dynamic systems evolving under changing conditions. Ceramic materials are also dynamic. As glazes soften in the kiln, chemically dissolved oxygen decomposes and forms bubbles stabilized by melt viscosity and surface tension. In the Poof Studies, I negotiate how far I can push back against heatwork, expansion, and gravity while still walking away with a stable form.

Making and firing operates as process-driven knowledge production, leading to repeatable chemical results. For me, research is iterative recipe development and observation of firing behavior. I design the material to grow and change, but the challenge is directing its expansion into a structure. Formulating a bubbling glaze is relatively simple—combine materials that off-gas when melting. Chemistry offers a predictable framework, but the final form is left to the forces operating inside the kiln.

I spend a lot of time staring at the kiln waiting for just the right moment to shut off the gas and start cooling. I study the structure of each piece obsessively during firing. Watching and learning how the forms evolve with each new Poof Study keeps me coming back to the studio to test the next variation. That’s where my excitement lives.

CM: What is the most valuable advice you’ve received as an artist?

KS: Pay attention to the moments during making that excite you and follow that curiosity. Working with clay is full of surprises. Sometimes ideas slump, leaving you chiseling a pile of glaze off the kiln shelf; however, when you approach those unpredictable moments with curiosity rather than disappointment, they become opportunities for more experimentation. Some of the most interesting results in my practice happen when the firing doesn’t go to plan; these moments are just the material revealing a behavior I didn’t anticipate. The surprises are the best part.

Follow her on Instagram @kate__sutter.

May 2026: Table of Contents

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