Kyle Carpenter
2010

Kyle Carpenter creates sturdy but refined ceramic vessels and honors them with elegant illustrations and pattern. He and the work move between two physical studios and modes of creating. He crafts form with traditional studio pottery techniques in Asheville's River Arts District, then shifts to his home studio where he adapts watercolor methods to ceramic materials to grace the works with painstaking illustrations and elegant, rhythmic brushwork.

This exhibits marks ten years since he graduated with his BFA from UNCA Asheville, as well as a move to a new river district studio and a new addition to his family. He is at an important point of transition and opportunity, as reflected in several new avenues of exploration in his work in recent months. This exhibit will include over 100 new works that provide both a record of the past, as well as tantalizing glimpses of what may come in this, his next decade.

The artist reception and exhibit opening will be held Saturday, February 27, from 5-9 pm. The exhibit and sale will be on display through April 10, 2010.

About the Artist

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, of course, offers a deep well of talented potters, both folk and contemporary, to look towards for inspiration. The "mingei" arts and crafts movement, of Japan, has offered an overwhelming influence to so many potters throughout history, including myself. I want to continue the long tradition of making beautiful wares for everyday people.

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.

Kyle Carpenter - Artist Resume

Education

University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, NC, Bachelor of Fine Arts 2000

Exhibitions

"Kyle Carpenter 2010," solor show, Decatur, GA, MudFire Gallery, 2010

"Yunomi Invitational," Iowa City, IA, AKAR Gallery, 2010

"Two Fine Folk," Two person show, Seneca, SC, Blue Ridge Arts Council, 2009

"30 X 5," Iowa City, IA, AKAR Gallery, 2009

"Asheville in Atlanta," Decatur, GA, Acted as curator, Mudfire Gallery, 2009

"NC Potters Invitational," Charlotte, NC, Mint Museum of Art, 2009

"More Than Skin Deep," Baltimore, MD, Baltimore Clayworks, 2009

"Surface," solo show, Decatur, GA, MudFire Gallery, 2009

"Ceramic Invitational," Oak Park, Illinois, Terra Incognito, 2009

"Winterfest," Baltimore, MD, Baltimore Clayworks, 2008

"Asheville in Atlanta," Atlanta, GA, Acted as curator, Mudfire Gallery, 2008

"Form & Function: An Invitational," Santa Barbara, CA, Westmont College, 2008

"NC Potters Invitational," Charlotte, NC, Mint Museum Outdoor Craft Show, 2008

"Exploring Surface Design," Asheville, NC, American Folk Art & Framing, 2008

"Clayspace Co-op: New Work," Asheville, NC, Asheville Area Arts Council, Front Gallery, 2008

"Blackbird," Asheville, NC, American Folk Art & Framing, 2008

"The Pot Adorned," solo show, Atlanta, GA, Mudfire Gallery, 2008

"O the Art of Giving," New Orleans, LA, The Ogden Museum of Southern Art and Craft, 2007

"Performances in Clay II," Chattanooga, TN, The Gallery, 2007

"Creative Diversions: Influences of Traditional NC Art & Craft," Manteo, NC, Roanoke Island Festival Park Gallery, 2007

"Asheville in Atlanta," Atlanta, GA, Acted as curator, Mudfire Gallery, 2007

"Pushing Tradition: Asheville's New Voices," Athens, GA, Good Dirt Gallery, 2007

"100 under 100," Columbia, NC, Pacosin Art Center, 2007

"Put a lid on it," Atlanta, GA, Mudfire Gallery, 2007

"Contemporary Tradition," solo show, Atlanta, GA, Mudfire Gallery, 2007

"Sculptural/Functional: UNCA Clay," Hendersonville, NC, Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, 2006-2007

"Moments in Nature," Chattanooga, TN, The Gallery, 2007

"Performances in Clay," Chattanooga, TN, The Gallery, 2006

"Jerry Miller Award Winners," Cary, NC, Town Hall, 2006

"UNCA Clay," Asheville, NC, Artemisia Gallery, 2006

"Local Clay," Asheville, NC, Acted as curator, Asheville Area Arts Council, Front Gallery, 2005

"The Abundant Table," Asheville, NC American Folk Gallery, 2005

"Kyle Carpenter: New Works," Carrboro, NC, NC Crafts Gallery, 2005

"Kyle Carpenter: New Works," solo show, Atlanta, GA, MudFire Gallery, 2005, 2006

"Butter Dish," Asheville, NC, Odyssey Gallery, 2004

Two Person Exhibition Asheville, NC, Asheville Arts Alliance, Front Gallery, 2004

"Serve This!," Atlanta, GA, MudFire Gallery, 2004

"Asheville in Atlanta ," Atlanta, GA, Acted as curator, MudFire Gallery, 2004

"Functional Ceramics & Experimental Fibers," Tryon, NC, The Upstairs Gallery, 2004

Art in the Park Arts & Crafts Festival, Blowing Rock, NC, 2004

"Potters & Their Mentors," Asheville, NC, American Folk Gallery, 2004

"Rhythm," solo show, Atlanta, GA, MudFire Gallery, 2004

"Kyle Carpenter: New Works," solo show, Cary, NC, Jordan Hall Arts Center, Oct. 2003

"Salt & Pepper Show," Asheville, NC, Odyssey Gallery, 2003

"Asheville in Atlanta," Atlanta, GA, Acted as curator, MudFire Gallery, 2003

Lazy Daze Arts & Crafts Festival, Cary, NC, 2003-2005, Jerry Miller Award Recipient 2003

"Teapots-A-Go-Go," Atlanta, GA, MudFire Gallery, 2003, 2004, 2006

"Making Marks," solo show, Atlanta, GA, MudFire Gallery, 2003

"Stoneware Forms," solo show, Cary, NC, Jordan Hall Arts Center, 2003

"Hand-Held Cup Show," Asheville, NC, Odyssey Gallery, 2001

"Strictly Functional Pottery National Lancaster," PA, Market Place Craft Center, 2001

"UNCA Alumni Exhibition," Asheville, NC, Owen Gallery, 2000-2008

"UNCA Student Invitational," Asheville, NC, Asheville Gallery of Art, 1999

"NC Student Exhibition," Greensboro, NC, 1998, 1999

"UNCA Student Exhibition," Asheville, NC, Owen Gallery, 1998, 1999, 2000

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