About Suze Lindsay
Suze Lindsay is a studio potter living and working in the NC mountains. Her concentration in ceramic studies includes a two-year core fellowship at Penland School of Crafts, then an MFA from Louisiana State University. In 1996, after completing three years as an Artist in Residence at Penland School of Crafts, Suze and her husband, Kent McLaughlin set up and began potting in their studio in Bakersville, NC under the name Fork Mountain Pottery.
Suze has taught at numerous art centers and universities including Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Penland School of Crafts, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Nova Scotia School of Art and Design, Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, Curaumilla Art Center, and Ohio University She has been a presenter at the Utilitarian Clay Conference in Tennessee, the Alabama Clay Conference, Vermont’s North Country Studio Conference, and Fusion-Ontario Clay and Glass Association Conference in Toronto. Awards include Best of Show in the First Annual Strictly Functional Pottery National, and Emerging Artist at the 2000 National Council on Education for the Ceramic Art conference.
Artist Statement
I focus on creating altered pottery forms that are good companions for daily use. An integral part of my work includes surface decoration to enhance pottery form by patterning and painting slips and glazes for salt firing. I make things to entice the user to take pleasure in everyday activities, inviting participation and promoting hospitality.
When I make pots, I subtly suggest figure and character by manipulating forms after they are thrown. I roll out clay slabs and use them to hand build elements that are then assembled with thrown parts to create pieces that have a personality of their own. I like to experiment and play with form and proportion on functional ware by altering and stacking parts. When I decorate the surfaces with slips and glazes, I am very interested in making the marks and designs enhance the volume of each pot. I am inspired when I see historical pots from many cultures, including Japan, Crete, Chile, China, and native North American. The pots I respond to may be a quirky Pre-Columbian animal ewer, or the sophisticated designs of a Mimbres bowl.
Contact
https://www.forkmountainpottery.com/
Instagram: @suzepots57