RAIR | 2010-11

Nathan Craven | Elgin, TX

In 2007, while in graduate school, I was fortunate to be the recipient of a rare “Aha!” moment. “Break up your long extrusions with a hammer and stack them in the window,” is what the little artist angel (or devil) on my shoulder told me to do.  My course was set and I have been extruding clay construction modules since. This work has gained me access to museums throughout the US and across oceans. Me, my wife and our three children have lived north, south, east and west because of these little ceramic extrusions. Which begs the question that everyone asks, “What are they?”

Nathan hails from Ogden Utah. He earned his BFA in ceramics from Weber State University (2005) and a MFA in ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design (2008).

www.nathancraven.com

This work is based on ceramics as a building material, specifically the brick, which has a long history of use as a unit of construction. The building of walls and floors, their placement, and the materials they are made from create varying spaces and determine our interactions within an architectural volume. Constructing walls and floors with my own versions of bricks, I aim to define and clarify space in ways that draw attention to these otherwise unnoticed elements as well as to the spaces in which we dwell.

Roswell Museum and Art Center

Rair exhibition • Nathan Craven "Brick by Brick" • September 17 - October 23, 2011