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What happens if you cross a technician with a pottery artist? Well, the result is Andrew Clark! This exceptionally gifted artist used to work as a shop technician, but his love for art led him to pottery, where he uses his dual expertise to make functional pottery that features a mechanized process.

Andrew Clark, an artist, who earned a degree in Bachelor of Fine Arts with a Concentration in Ceramics from Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, USA, also worked as a shop technician in the same University during his course. He honed his pottery skills at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg in Tennessee, USA.

Clark’s unique technique is inspired by his interest in machinery and engineering. His functional pottery was influenced by schematic cutaway drawings and simple mechanical devices. He uses terra sigillata, an astringent clay derived from Lemnos or Samos, and underglaze, a method of decorating pottery, to create his signature ceramic products. It is this material and the process that allows him to put moving parts into his works.

Andrew Clark ceramics use bright contrasting colors to separate the layers, much like schematic drawings that separate each part of the machine through color. The job is not easy, as he explains on clayakar.com, “Through the process of problem-solving, I seek to find a combination of a simple functional vessel and a complex machine.”

Based in Jackson, Tennessee, Clark is the present Resident Artist in Companion Gallery and Studio, Humboldt, Tennessee. Andrew Clark pottery has been displayed in many exhibitions in the US. He, along with Eric Botbyl and Kelsey Nagy has also published a book ‘Studio Internship Model’. On his Instagram page ‘Pottery for All’ enjoys a viewership of over 398,000 followers. If you are keen on buying his products simply visit his website.