BIOGRAPHY

Sam Harvey is a ceramic artist, curator, and educator based in Aspen, CO. He first fell in love with clay in High School while attending the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. He received his MFA from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute. Sam has garnered recognition as one of the most compelling artists in the United States, receiving the prestigious 2019 USA Fellowship Award. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and showcased in renowned institutions like the American Museum of Ceramic Art and the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

Sam's passion for ceramics extends beyond his artistic practice. He has served as the studio coordinator of the ceramics department at Anderson Ranch Arts Center for nine years, fostering creativity and guiding emerging artists. Additionally, he actively contributes to the ceramic arts community by serving on the boards of Archie Bray Foundation, Chulitna Lodge Artist Residency, Cloud Break Center for the Arts, Soldner Center for the Arts & Innovation, and Carbondale Clay Center. As the owner and director of the Harvey Preston Gallery, specializing in contemporary ceramic art, Sam actively promotes inclusivity and artistic expression. Sam's extensive travels around the world, including visits to Taiwan, Jamaica, Canada, Chile, China, Nepal, Italy, England, and various states across the United States have enriched his artistic perspective and continue to infuse his work with diverse influences.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am attracted to beautiful objects. Objects that convey the thought process, sensibility and history of their maker. Whether an object of art is constructed of clay, molded styrofoam, steel, or canvass and paint, it conveys an idea, an intent to communicate. Out of cognition and the creative thinking process comes the desire to construct and make visible our individual stories, questions and desires.

 My intent is to build pieces that connote that a story is being written, a narrative that takes the reader on a journey one sentence or paragraph at a time. I strive to create a map which is interpreted metaphorically rather than literally. Throughout each piece, within the body of the form, are areas that expand and contract, places of rest and transition. These shifts of volume and planes allow an investigation to allusions of anatomy. The clay is coaxed into bulbous swellings suggestive of shoulders or a rounded belly or cantilevered out like an arm reaching or grounded like the solid foundation of a body in akimbo posture.

 As part of the sensory dialogue, I want the viewer to be involved in, I leave the record of my making process visible. The viewer’s gaze is encouraged to traverse the landscape of the object, following fingerprint after successive fingerprint. Pinching and coiling are the tracks and evidence of the journey. My desire is to establish a kinesthetic conversation between the person viewing the work and myself. The tactility of the coils bridges a gap between idea and physicality. Perception becomes dialogue. Consequently, the viewer becomes an active participant in a conversation regarding architecture, scale, beauty and use. 

Building with clay is an attempt at conveying an abstract idea in solid form. How I create the work is an organic process of discovery buttressed by historical references and a commitment to contemporary art awareness. My work proposes a journey, composed of amalgamations of various places I’ve traveled to or imagined. The job of the sculpture is to exist as a visual trigger for sensory perception.