Giselle Hicks

"Raised in a restaurant family in Southern California, I was drawn to ceramics as a teenager and aspired to be a potter while studying ceramics at Syracuse University and eventually Alfred University in New York state. I have spent the past 24 years making objects in clay - a material that tends to attract grounded, community-oriented people who are interested in history, anthropology, sociology, chemistry, physics, and eating. Potters love to eat. They are a convivial bunch.

Until recently, my career has been fairly nomadic. I have followed opportunities to participate in residencies, worked for a gallery, taught at universities, and managed the ceramics program at an art center. Given these varied experiences, I have realized that though my creative identity finds its center in the studio, it is essential that my work and knowledge move out into the classroom, marketplace, and community in order to evolve and thrive.

I feel fortunate to have found a material that has offered an unconventional life with innumerable opportunities to study, travel and teach around this country and the world. I recently purchased a home and studio in Helena, Montana, a community I was introduced to as a resident at the Archie Bray Foundation. I continue to teach workshops and participate in gallery exhibitions, in addition to working with interior design firms and retail shops to place work in hotels, restaurants, and homes. 

This series of coiled-and-pinched vessels came from a self-imposed assignment to make something using only a few tools. My hope is that the finished piece reflects my skill and control of the material while acknowledging the limitations and idiosyncrasies of my hands and body."