Paul Briggs’s name and work have come across my life in some way several times recently, and i keep finding myself becoming enthralled hearing people talk about him as a person or viewing his work, so i wanted to share it in hopes of inspiring others. Briggs was on a panel at NCECA in 2018 and 2019 and was set to be part of TWO panels in Richmond. He has also presented at the NAEA conference. In the last few days, i have been doing some research on him. I smiled when i saw that he lives in Lawrence….Massachusetts, that is. I could write a whole other post on how our town was settled by people from Massachusetts. Also, he taught for a few years at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, (which is where the minister that married David and I also taught for most of his life…another connection…?) And he’s interested in African drumming and dance. MAN do i want to meet this guy and sit down to have a conversation with him! I’m sure our talks would meander through his pinch-formed pieces, especially the ones that have the windblown-looking leaves and other floral elements. His instagram has mesmerizing videos of the pinching process that i can not stop watching. I would also like to hear about the experiences that inspired his body of work that is made from slabs and what appears to be extrusions that are then tied into knots between slabs. And perhaps it’s my own background & bias, but i think i see some influence of the Lutheran architecture he would have seen at St. Olaf. I hope to meet him one day soon and hear his story. If you are as curious to learn more as I was, check out his website psbriggs.com, the NCECA Clay Replay of his presentations on YouTube or check out his instagram. All links are available from our social links in our bio.
Paul Briggs
I was born in Beacon, NY and grew up in the Hudson Valley region of upstate New York. Slab-building is my “primary” method of expression. Pinch-forming is what I do to meditate, slab building is what I do to think through ideas, to philosophize concretely. I have studied educational theory and policy, art education, theology, sculpture and ceramics. After a circuitous and fortuitous journey, I am an artist-teacher at The Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA. My partner and I share the evenings musing about sewing and quilting, ceramics and sculpture, art, life, and how far away our three children live.