2009
April 4 - May 2
Reception Saturday, April 4, from 5-9 pm.
Ken received his M.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, R.I., in 1977. He accepted a Residency at The Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana where he studied and taught until 1979. Returning to the East Coast, he taught at The Catholic University of America until 1981.
Ken and his family moved to North Carolina where he designed and built his studio and wood fired kiln. He has been a full time studio potter in the small mountain community of Loafer’s Glory for twenty-seven years. He is a member of the Southern Highlands Handicrafts Guild, Piedmont Craftsmen and Potters of the Roan.
Ken has conducted workshops at the Penland School of Crafts, John C. Campbell School, Canton Clayworks, the University of Iowa, Western Carolina University, among others. He exhibits predominantly in galleries located in the southeastern United States.
One of the most critical choices in my life was to leave the urban arena
of Washington, D.C., twenty seven years ago and move to the mountains of Western
North Carolina. There seems to be a certain rightness here. There are larger
rhythms. The trees and mountains shrink you right down. I’m less serious about
clay than I have ever been. Other priorities such as family, friends and neighbors,
running and soccer, take me away from the clay and yet seem to allow me to
accomplish more with it.
Several years ago my wife, Connie and my two sons, Noah and
Galen and I, spent quite a bit of time backpacking in Central America. The
colors and imagery of the rainforests, the tropical flowers and the coral
reefs of the Caribbean have greatly influenced my work. The colors on the
surface of many of my pots, sinks and sculpture are anything but subdued!
The work seems to bring smiles to people’s lives, and that happiness in returned
to my family and me tenfold! I chose, a long time ago, to finish most of my work in the
wood burning kiln. This process is more common in Eastern pottery tradition
than Western. Unlike firing in a gas or electric kiln, firing in a wood kiln
is a process that demands constant attention. It requires gradually bringing
the heat to approximately 2300 degrees. I love the process of stoking the firebox. There’s a connection
there. You stay right with it from beginning to end. Wood firing means allowing
this process to take some part in the aesthetics of the work. The variables
are infinite and one gives in to chance. There are two to three months work
in every firing and there are no guarantees. It’s continual risk. Wood fired
pots are traditionally earthen colored, subdued, reserved and muted shades
which are beautiful. My goal, however, has been to achieve color in wood firing
- colors which combine with the conventional wood firing hues to create surfaces
not unlike those found in nature’s wildest fauna, flora and oceans! Most recently I have developed a porcelain slip and clay body
mined from a local deposit of primary kaolin. It is rich in impurities of
mica, quartz and garnets. This porcelain body flashes red to red-orange and
influences the color of other glazes. Historically most kilns were built near
deposits of materials necessary to make pottery. It is very satisfying to
process these materials and use them to make and decorate work. It deepens
my appreciation for the work made in earlier times.
Education
1977 MFA Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI EXPERIENCE 1983 - Present Studio Potter Sedberry Pottery, Inc., Bakersville, NC 1979-1982 Instructor The Catholic University of America Wash DC 1979-1980 Instructor Montgomery College, Rockville MD 1977-78 Resident Artist Archie Bray Foundation Helena MT 1975-1977 Teaching Assistant, Rhode Island School of Design 1976-1977 Summer Instructor, Rhode Island School of Design 1974-1976 Studio Potter, Cranesville, WV 2008 Atlanta/Asheville Show MudFire Gallery Atlanta GA Yunomi Invitational, AKAR, Iowa City, IA "45 Years of Inspired Design" Milton Rhodes Gallery Winston Salem NC "Wildlife" Invitational Cabarrus Arts Council Concord NC National Teapot Show VII Cedar Creek Gallery Creedmoor NC "Form: Contemporay Sculpture" Cedar Creek Gallery Creedmoor NC "Southern Exposure: Atmospheric Pots & The Penland Connection" The Rye Arts
Center Rye NY "Wood Fired Clay from the NC Mountains" Hand in Hand Gallery Flat Rock NC Handcrafted Home Furnishings & Architectural Elements Exhibition & Symposium
Mountain Air Country Club Burnsville NC Potters of the Roan Sparta Teapot Museum Sparta NC Potters of the Roan in Triplicate Crimson Laurel Gallery Bakersville NC 2007 "Southern Appalachian Tradition: The New Wave" NCECA Clifton Center Louisville
KY Beverage Rituals Piedmont Craftsmen Winston Salem NC 2006 Contemporary American Ceramics in Hokkaido Biei Kamikawa County Hokkaido
Japan "Beasties Animals in Translation Penland Gallery Penland NC 2005 Norm Schulman: Master Potter, Master Teacher: A Life of Influence Invitational
NC Pottery Center Seagrove NC Crafting Community: 75 Years of the Southern Highland Craft Guild Asheville
NC 2004 The Naked Truth 2004 International Wood Fire Conference Cedar Rapids IA The Power of Excellence Piedmont Craftsmen SECCA Gallery Winston Salem NC 2003 New Directions, Southern Connections: Potters of the Roan & Tapestry Weavers
South Exhibition Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts Gatlinburg TN 2002 HOT/ICE III: Teapots & Pitchers Blue Spiral 1 Asheville NC Solo Show Master Series Cedar Creek Gallery Creedmoor NC 2001 Solo Show ERL Originals Winston Salem NC 28th Annual Functional Ceramics Wayne Center for the Arts Wooster OH 2000 Solo Show Showcase Gallery Blue Spiral 1 Asheville NC Temple Beth-el Invitational Temple Beth-el St Petersburg Fl 1999 Wood Firing A Living Tradition NC Pottery Center Seagrove NC Wood & Metal & Clay & Glass & Paint W.D.O. Gallery Charlotte NC 1998 Artists Tiles in Western North Carolina Western Carolina University Cullowhee
NC Tell Me a Story: Makers from Appalachia Ohio Craft Museum Columbus OH 1997 Penland Community Potters Lill Street Gallery Chicago Ill Clay/Wood/Fire/Salt - A National Invitational Contemporary Artifacts Gallery
Berea KY 1996 Teapots: Interprtations by Southern Artists Traveling Exhibition Artwalk
at Lenox Square Atlanta GA Wood Fired Clay Blue Spiral 1 Asheville NC 1995 UCF National Ceramics Invitational 1995 Art Gallery of the Dept of Art University
of Central Florida Orlando FL Celebrations in Clay Callen McJunkin Gallery Charleston WVA 1994 Tradition & Transformation: A Dialogue on NC Craft North Carolina Crafts
Invitational Wellington B Gray Gallery East Carolina University Greenville
NC Contemporay Forms in Ceramics: A Regional Survey Moody Gallery of Art University
of Alabama Northport AL 1993 Carolina in New York The National Arts Club NY NY Ceramics Invitational Thompson Art Gallery Furman University Greenville
SC 1992 "Summer Run" Pacific Gallery Laguna Beach CA Seventh Annual Chicago International New Art Forms Exposition Navy Pier
Chicago ILL 1991 American Woodfire '91 The University of Iowa Museum of Art Iowa City IA Solo Show Department of Art Western Carolina University Cullowhee NC 1990 '90: A Recognition of Ceramic Excellence The Society of Arts and Crafts
Boston MA Carolina Clay: Four Artists High Point Arts Council High Point NC 1989 Spotlight '89 American Crafts Council SE Region Florida Craftsmen's Gallery
St Petersburg FL Ceramic Invitational Sylvia Ullman American Crafts Cleveland OH 1988 The American Collection Fortunoff NY NY A Show of Hands 18th Annual Concord MA 1987 Green Meadow Invitational Spring Valley NY "Gardenworks" The Craftsman's Gallery Scarsdale NY 1986 Contrast and Convergence Piedmont Craftsmen Inc Winston Salem NC The Penland Experience The Waterworks Gallery Salisbury NC 1985 A Clay Expose Craven Arts Council New Bern NC May Show Carol Hooberman Gallery Birmingham AL 1984 Clay USA '84 Radford University Radford VA Spotlight Exhibition NCECA Atlanta GA 1982 Show of Faculty and Student Work The Catholic University of America Washington
DC 1981 Benefit Show Archie Bray Foundation Helena MT 1980 14th Biennial Creative Crafts Council Exhibit MD Two Person Show Salve Regina Gallery The Catholic University of America
Washington DC 1979 Maryland Crafts Council Show Montgomery College Rockville MD 1978 Arts West Invitational Logan UT Invitational Paris Gibson Square Show Great Falls MT 1977 Two Man Show Rhode Island School of Design Woods Gerry Gallery Providence
RI Earthworks Show Earthworks Gallery Kingston RI 1976 All Crafts Show Rhode Island School of Design Woods Gerry Gallery Providence
RI Collections Columbia Museum of Art Columbia SC City of Charleston Charleston SC Ambassadorial Residence in Niamey Niger Africa Art in Embassies Program US
State Dept Washington DC First Charter Bank Charlotte NC Ken Sedberry Artist Resume
1974 BS Frostburg State University, Frostburg, MD
1972 AA Prince George's Community College, Largo, MD
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