Spotlight: Embracing Technology Shalya Marsh

Appears in the May 2024 issue of Ceramics Monthly.

Ceramics Monthly: How has your work or practice changed since being selected as a Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist in 2018? 

Shalya Marsh: Shortly after earning my MFA from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, I was selected as a Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist. At that time, my work utilized layered vinyl shadows placed on the wall behind sculptural knots and tangles. I was exploring ideas of tension and connection, confusing what was real and alluding to the passage of time. I recently shifted my focus and have begun using a craft cutter to create ceramic surfaces inspired by the textures and patterns of everyday life. My current work has expanded to incorporate digitally cut stencils as a resist for creating ceramic surfaces. The work also employs cuerda seca or “dry line,” a technique where a stained resist is silkscreened directly on the clay, allowing the open areas to be flooded with colored glaze, creating intricate raised images. This shift has allowed me to integrate graphic imagery into my handbuilt work. The use of digitally cut stencils and screen-printing techniques opens a vast potential for dynamic surface design, allowing me to push boundaries, experiment with new ideas, and maintain a sense of curiosity. 

CM: Discuss how you’ve implemented different types of technology into your practice for developing surfaces (like die-cut stencils) and how those have become a new stream of income? 

SM: I worked as a service assistant professor at West Virginia University in charge of the Ceramic Technology and Production Facility. The job combined my love for clay and teaching with my interest in how digital equipment, such as 3D printers and craft cutters, can be used as tools in the classroom and studio. My passion lies in merging traditional techniques with cutting-edge technology. I die-cut stencils to create ceramic surfaces and use craft cutters to make DIY silkscreens for making underglaze transfers and printing directly on clay. When I decided to focus full time on my creative practice in May of 2023, I wanted to continue to share my skills and enable people who have an aversion to technology to feel empowered to put digital tools to use in their studios. In addition to making, teaching is a large part of my business. I teach virtual courses, local community classes, and national in-person workshops, and I recently began designing and selling digital downloads for stencils and silkscreens. I have been working to diversify my income and launched a website (shalyamarshstudios.com) that offers resources and handouts designed to make technology and digital tools more accessible and to provide products, services, and technical support to the ceramics community centered around using craft cutters to create ceramic surfaces.