Sandi Pierantozzi Artist Statement

My decision to focus on making pots comes from a deep appreciation of food, celebration, and setting a beautiful table. I also feel that pots help me connect with people on a very basic human level. In this "age of communication," where most communicating is done via high-tech equipment and machines, and so much food is being eaten out of paper, plastic or Styrofoam I feel I can communicate through my pots by bringing some creative life into the daily rituals of eating and drinking. I truly believe that a hand made pot contains the soul and energy of the person who made it, and that with use, a real human connection is made. I feel that these real connections between people are essential to keeping alive the soul in all of us.

Most of my pots are handbuilt from slabs that I make with a rolling pin. After rolling a slab, I either texture the clay as a flat surface and then make a cylinder, or carve into the clay after the form is made. I pinch or cut darts or sections of clay out to create various forms. With this method of working, I can make pots that reveal the soft qualities of clay through the impression of texture or carving, while at the same time show control of the clay through the nature of the forms.

Sandi Pierantozzi Bio

Sandi Pierantozzi is a studio potter in Philadelphia, PA. She began making pots in 1984 at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, where she first became an Associate, and then a Resident Artist. In 1993 she was chosen as an Emerging Talent presenter at the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, and was a Featured Demonstrator at that conference in 2001. She has presented at numerous conferences around the country. She has also received a Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Her awards include the Hammill & Gillespie Purchase Award in the Ceramics Monthly International Ceramics Competition in 1999, the People¹s Choice Award in the Strictly Functional Pottery Show in 1998, and she was the Fleisher Challenge winner in 1996.

Sandi Pierantozzi Resume

EDUCATION

1975 Art Institute Of Philadelphia

RECENT EXHIBITIONS

The Body in Pots / Red Star Studios, Kansas City MO / August, 2008

Made In Clay / Greenwich House Pottery, New York City, NY/ May 2008

Table of Elements / Manchester Guild of Craftsmen, NCECA, Pittsburgh, PA 2008

La Mesa / Santa Fe Clay at NCECA, Pittsburgh, PA/ March 2008

Cups Coming Together / Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY, 2007

Yunomi Shows / Akar Gallery / Iowa City, Iowa, March, 2008 & 2007

Inspired Utility / Main Line Art Center / Wayne, PA, May, 2006 Watershed Anniversary Show / Edgecomb, ME / March, 2006

Contemporary Functional Ceramics / Wayne Museum of Art / Ft. Wayne, IN, Aug. 2005

Clay Studio 30th Anniversary Exhibition / The Clay Studio, Phila., PA / April, 2005

Clay Times / 10th Anniversary Exhibition / NCECA / Baltimore, MD / March, 2005

Mid-Atlantic Potters / Whitehall Gallery / Annapolis, MD / March, 2005

Culturing Surfaces / Homewood House Museum / Baltimore, MD / March, 2005

Poetry of Pottery / Maryland Federation of Art City Gallery / Baltimore, MD / March, 2005

Dynamic Duos / Vessel Gallery / Huntington Valley, PA / February, 2005

Surfaces / AKAR / Iowa City, Iowa / November, 2003

Pottery Invitational / Worcester Center for Crafts / Invited by Karen Karnes / May, 2003

DelecTABLE Ceramics / Brookfield Art Center / Connecticut / July, 2003

Woman in Clay / Odyssey Gallery / August, 2003

Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Shows / Philadelphia, PA / 2003, 2001,1999,1996,1994

Washington Craft Show / Washington, DC / November, 2002

Invitational Pottery Show / Invited by Karen Karnes / Old Church Cultural Center / Demarest, NJ / Dec.'94,'95,'96,'98,'99, 2000, 2001

Functional Ceramics / The Society of Arts and Crafts / Boston, MA / May-June, 1998

Global Ceramics, "Naked Clay" / Gallery Babel / Amsterdam, The Netherlands / April, 1998

Two Person Show / Cedar Valley Ceramics Gallery / Dallas, TX / April 1998

Anderson Ranch Artists Group Show / Evelyn Seigal Gallery/ Ft. Worth, TX / March, 1998

Crafts at the Castle / Boston, MA / December, 1997

Smithsonian Craft Show / Washington, DC / April, 1997, April, 1999

Solo Show, Fleisher Challenge / Fleisher Art Memorial / Philadelphia PA / September, 1996

Two Person Show / Lill Street: Gallery 1021 / Chicago, IL / June, July, 1996

Functional Ceramics Show / Wooster, OH / April, 1996 / April, 2005

Solo Exhibition /"User Friendly"/ Harrison Gallery / Clay Studio / Phila., PA Nov. 1995

The Last Pitcher Show, '95 / Lill Street Gallery / Chicago, IL / August-Sept. 1995

FUNctional Exhibition /Society for Contemporary Crafts / Pittsburgh, PA / 1994

Clay Directions '94 / The Dairy Barn Cultural Arts Center / Athens, OH / May -Sept., 1994

"Vessels" / Artworks Gallery / Seattle, WA / Sept.-Oct., 1993

"Tea Party" / Contemporary Ceramic Teapots / Ferron Gallery / Northampton, MA / Oct., 1993

Summer Teapot Show / Nancy Margolis Gallery / Portland, Maine / July - August, 1993

Strictly Functional Pottery National / 6 years / Market House Craft, Lancaster, PA

American Craft Museum / Tea Party Exhibition / New York, NY / April, 1993

Resident Artists Exhibition / The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA / May, 1993, April, 1994

Monarch Tile National Ceramic Competition / San Angelo, TX / April - May, 1993

New Ceramics / Creative Arts Workshop / New Haven, CT / April - May, 1993

1993 NCECA International Invitational Ashtray Exhibition / San Diego, CA / March, 1993

Pattern: New Form/New Function / Arrowmont School / Gatlinburg, TN / Feb.-May, 1993

The National Invitational Cup Show / Artworks Gallery, Seattle, WA / Dec.1992, 1993,1994

Solo Exhibition / "Hand To Earth" / The Clay Studio Gallery, Philadelphia, PA / Nov. 1992