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Emily Pearlman
Medias Used or Areas of Interest:
Ceramics
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While in Japan during my husbands tour of military duty, I had the opportunity to observe many Japanese potters at work. This initial exposure to professional potters implanted in me a fascination for the process of turning a lump of mud into a useful vessel. This fascination, in turn, led me to take pottery classes whenever possible at the local school and the Y.
Later, when I was between jobs (I was trained as an urban planner and have worked for the City of New York), I found myself spending more and more time at the local pottery studio and less and less time job hunting. Inevitably pottery won out. After serving as an assistant to the instructors at this studio, I began to produce and sell my own work, but to this day, continue to improve my skills by taking workshops with master potters here in New York City and elsewhere in the country.
In 1987 I set up my own production studio in New York City and began to wholesale my work, first through the Buyers Market of American Crafts and then in 1996 through the New York International Gift Fair, as well. All my work is produced by me in my studio in New York City. It is either thrown on the wheel, hand-built, slipcast, or a combination of all three methods of forming clay. I have one part-time assistant who helps me with some of the tasks in my production. However, all the throwing, carving, assembling of parts, etc. is done by me. In the end every piece has ben touched by me and bears my handwork.
The ability of clay to take any form, any shape, has always interested me. When I first started making pots, my horizon was limited to the production of smooth, round, symmetrical pots. In time, however, I became fascinated in the potential of clay to be pushed, pulled, thrown, coiled, rolled, stretched, faceted, textured, cut and assembled into any form, any shape, defined only by my skill and imagination. It is a never-ending source of interest and challenge. I think my recent work reflects this.
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