The Curved Canvas
Luba Sharapan

Luba Sharapan Bio

Luba was born in Moscow, and has lived in Vienna, Rome, London, Washington and in several other largish cities in the Eastern US. Needless to say she is neither comfortable in nor inspired by nature. She attended Georgetown University and the London School of Economics, where she studied international business and had plenty to time to consider industrial dystopias while smashing through the sights and smells of the local punk scene. Clearly, the only possible outcome of all this, twenty years later, is to make pottery that reminds her of rusty water towers, peeling walls, and dangerously decrepid rooftops. Luba got into pottery full-time in 2001 as studio director and owner of MudFire Clayworks. She creates a fast-evolving body of work drawing from the many influences of new ideas to test, pair, recombine and mutate.

Luba Sharapan Artist Statement

My favorite hack theory about the existence of human life on earth is that we were seeded here by extraterrestrials. Sort of like bees making honey, they knew that we'd bring all the raw materials of the planet to the surface, process them into useful compounds and units like plastics and alloys, then concentrate them in piles (cities, landfills, etc.) where our masters could then easily harvest these goodies for their own use. If this process eventually killed the worker drones (us) or adversely effected the lifecycles of the planet itself, that would be of no concern. The point was efficient resource extraction.

Though admittedly ridiculous and based on no facts (sort of like the Pentagon), this theory has a compelling internal consistency and does offer an explanation for certain strange human behaviors such as packaging small amounts of water in plastic bottles, demolishing perfectly good houses for the sake of big-box developments and dumping mercury in the oceans. Whatever the origin of our shenanigans, we've become so intransigent that the planet itself seems to be trying to throw us off. The old world is rusting and peeling all around us... so big industry buries the old metal stuff, and makes us new shiny plastic stuff so that we can feel like we're doing well for ourselves.

But not clay. Clay pots last forever. They don't lose their cool factor. They don't fade, peel or rust. Alien archaeologists might actually find something good to say about our culture 100,000 years from now since clay is about the only thing they'll find intact. I make work that looks worn... because to me "worn" means used, loved and as yet, not replaced by plastic. Maybe they won't think we were that bad after all.

Luba Sharapan Publications

"Firing Mid-Range Reduction at MudFire Clayworks", by John Britt, review of studio glaze research and operations, Ceramics Monthly, October 2008

"Fired Up Over Pottery", studio and artist profile, The Champion Newspaper, September 2008

"Get Mud Fired Up", studio profile, Sunday Paper newspaper, March 25, 2007

"MudFire Studio Offers New Concept For Those Who Like To Play With Clay", cover story - artist and studio profile, The Story - Central DeKalb news paper, September 15, 2005.

"Potters Keep an Eye on History", artist and studio profile, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 31, 2005

"Talk of The Town", quoted in show review, Creative Loafing city paper, May 27, 2004

"Clay Creations", photo in arts calendar, Season magazine, Spring 2004

"Clear as Mud", artist and studio profile, Atlanta Buckhead newspaper, February 2004

"Around Town", vase photo in arts calendar, Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles magazine, December 2003

"Starting Over", artist profile, People magazine, February 3, 2003

"MudFire", artist and studio profile, Piedmont Review newspaper, November 2002

Luba Sharapan Teaching Experience

Pottery & Sculpture Lessons, taught daily at MudFire, 1000+ students, 2002 to present

Throwing and Decorating, Dogwood Festival, three day demonstration, 2009

Introduction to Raku, Emory University, one day workshop for ceramics students, Atlanta 2008

Thrown and Altered Pottery, American Craft Council Show, three day demonstration, Atlanta 2008

Luba Sharapan TV & Radio

Best of the City, Comcast on Demand, studio and artist profile, November 2008

Search for the Perfect Girlfriend, Playboy Channel, host for pottery lessons date, October 2008

Morning News, WXIA NBC Atlanta, work featured during 3 minute segment on MudFire, Feb. 2007

Blue Collar TV, The WB, on-air appearance with Jeff Foxworthy, et al. teaching pottery, August 2004

Arts In Atlanta, Comcast Community Television, studio and artist profile, May 2003