Artaxis Conversations

For the grand finale of the Project: Cup’s Studio Visit series, we got a sneak peak into the home studio of potter and painter, Samuel Johnson. Sam’s studio practice is rooted in the thoughtful creation of functional vessels. He throws and hand builds on a low-momentum kick wheel, which engages the body in a different way than weighted kick wheels or electric wheels. The rhythm of this style of th...

Project: Cup snuck into the studio of Sunyoung Park! Sunyoung’s early life and education was in Korea. There, historical ceramic objects were part of the everyday and an interest in art shaped her education. Sunyoung discusses the process for re-imagining everyday inspirations in her work and the transitions that she experienced as an international student and artist in residence. We laughed so mu...

Today Project: Cup are in the studio of current Charlotte Street Resident, Elaine Buss. Elaine’s work explores ambiguity and the nondescript, specifically in relation to the sensory, ineffable, and intangible experience of inhabiting a human body. Her inspirations include: anthropological forms, ancient grinding stones and/or the qualities of stone, and sacred architecture. In response to question...

This Studio Visit Project: Cup took us to the renovated studio of @kylastrid to speak with her and her husband, Louis Wigen-Toccalino. Their first conversation was an argument about cups. For years Kyla produced cups for Decade in Lawrence, KS. Louis is now the owner/baker/chef/mastermind behind @cellar.door.cafe . Kyla says: If you want to learn about your cups and what their lifespan will be, pu...

Project: Cup took a road trip outside of the city to meet with Momoko Usami-Cotter at her studio and home. Momoko, her husband Josh Cotter (artist/cartoonist), their two kids and two goats live on family land in a rural area about 20 minutes from Marysville, Mo. Her inspirations are wide reaching and her practice includes making work of all different scales. We spent time walking a recently establ...

Project: Cup visited the studio of KC Urban Potters founding member,  and Artaxis member, Paul Donnelly for an extra-special studio visit. Pictured here are some images of Paul in his studio (shared with fellow artists, Rain Harris and Kate Schroeder ) in Midtown, Kansas City. Paul brought a special cup made by Lee Rexrode to talk about. Paul explains: “This is the first piece of functional potter...

Project: Cup visited artist, Twiggy Cercy, in the beautiful small town of Oskaloosa, KS at their home and studio. Twiggy's work takes on many forms - from ceramic sculpture and functional pottery, to wearables and performance. During our studio visit and conversation, Twiggy offered: "What if I just started doing all the things that people tell me I couldn't do?...It started turning into these wei...

Project: Cup visited artist, Twiggy Cercy, in the beautiful small town of Oskaloosa, KS at their home and studio. Twiggy's work takes on many forms - from ceramic sculpture and functional pottery, to wearables and performance. During our studio visit and conversation, Twiggy offered: "What if I just started doing all the things that people tell me I couldn't do?...It started turning into these wei...