Kyle Carpenter
Kyle Carpenter’s pottery is wheel-thrown and salt-fired. Each pot is adorned with its own unique brushwork decoration and flame pattern. Especially noted for imagery of reeds, grasses, and birds, Kyle creates elegant, simple forms then lavishes the attention of his brush to compose striking surfaces. Repetition, rhythm, and abstractions informed by nature are key elements in his signature style. Working with a restrained palette, he creates a stunningly broad and fast-evolving portfolio, achieving a brilliant synthesis of contemporary and traditional.
Available Pieces
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No Longer Available
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Kyle Carpenter at MudFire
Providing ongoing representation
Annual solo shows: New Work, April 2011, New Work, March 2010, Surface, March 2009, The Pot Adorned, March 2008, Contemporary Tradition, March 2007, New Work, May 2006, New Work, March 2005, Rhythm, March 2004, Making Marks, March 2003
Annual Asheville in Atlanta shows: September 2011, October 2010, October 2009, October 2008, October 2007, October 2006, September 2005, September 2004, September 2003
Gallery group shows: Mug*Shots, August 2009, Put A Lid On It, May 2007, Teapots A-Go-Go 2006, April 2006, Serve This, October 2004, Teapots A-Go-Go 2, April 2004, Teapots A-Go-Go, April 2003
Kyle Carpenter Artist Bio
Kyle Carpenter lives and maintains a studio in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramic Arts. Kyle has taught ceramics at both the high school and college level, and has supported himself as a full-time studio artist for eight years. Kyle's work has received national recognition in prestigious juried shows and has been featured in both Ceramics Monthly and Clay Times. He is frequent curator of ceramics exhibits, was recently admitted to the prestigious Southern Highland Crafts Guild, and has work in the permanent collection of the Mint Museum in Charlotte.
Carpenter, a North Carolina native, knows the importance of the rich pottery-making tradition of his home state. His pottery reveals a strong contemporary design sensibility while combining influences of North Carolina folk pottery, the Japanese "mingei" arts and crafts movement, and his training as an illustrator. He creates elegant forms then lavishes time and attention on creating surface treatments using repetition, rhythm, and abstractions informed by nature. His new work continues to evolve, reflecting even greater attention to surface with refinements to the firing process, an evolving palette of decorating materials, and increased investment in brushwork decoration.
Kyle Carpenter Artist Statement
As a studio potter, I work diligently to make well-crafted wares for everyday people. It's seemingly less about the "ritual of the table" and more about respecting a long tradition of craftsmen before me and discovering my own voice. As a contemporary potter, I often look to past traditions for inspiration. I'm interested in folk pottery of many origins. My native state of North Carolina offers a deep well of talented potters, both folk and contemporary, to look towards for inspiration.
Simplicity in form offers a broad surface for me to embellish with lines, patterns, and drawings. Before I was introduced to the ceramics arts, I did a fair amount of illustration before and during art school. The combination of three-dimensional forms and two-dimensional drawings was a natural fusion of both my love of drawing and pottery, art and craft. It is my intention to bring together clear and abstract markings to engage the viewer to look closely at how design relates to the form of the pot.
