Erik SCOLLON

I like to think about the intersection of education, art, design and often ceramics. How do these ideas affect what people make and how they think about objects? By creating and teaching about ‘functional objects’ an engaged viewership is both important and satisfying to the ideas I like to test out.

BIO: Erik Scollon plays around with the histories and traditions of object making and education by reworking ceramic practice and by experimenting with performative and participatory projects.  By moving between ‘sculpture’ to ‘ceramics,’ functional objects to aesthetically autonomous objects, social engagement and recorded performances, he investigates issues of education, access, taste, class, gender, and queerness.  

A committed educator, Scollon is an Associate Professor and Chair of the First Year CORE Studio Program at California College of the Arts.  He has worked alongside people ages seven to seventy through workshops, demonstrations and many years spent teaching in the Department of Art Practice at UC Berkeley as well as the The Berkeley Art Studio in Berkeley, California.

Collaboration is a keen interest of Scollon’s work and he has cooperated with Amanda Curreri on their artist run publication Color&Color, created the ceramics performance collective The Brick Factory with Nicole Burisch, Tom Myers and Summer Zickefoose, as well as working with audiences and his students on a variety of ceramics based participatory projects.

Born in Rochester, Michigan, he received his BFA from Albion College, and an MFA in Ceramics along with an MA in Visual and Critical Studies, both from California College of the Arts.  His work has been seen at museums, galleries, craft fairs, design blogs and gay biker bars.  He is represented by Romer Young Gallery and he currently lives and works in San Francisco, California.  

escollon [at] gmail dot com