David Eichelberger
Artist Statement
The objects I make are both an anthropological study and an artistic endeavor, and incorporate an attempt to understand the world we live in, through making. We transform information from our environment into an understandable narrative that allows us to navigate through life; my work aims to pause this assimilation, to extend that experience, and to open it for investigation.
The materials I use and the structured placement of edges and volumes in my work conveys a specificity of function. The exact intention may be less obvious, and a situation is created that pairs a sense of knowing with a sense of mystery. I position elements in regular, metered fashion, and a rhythm develops, with a cadence that promotes a rambling exploration of the forms I make. My simple surface palette highlights pinch marks in the clay, evidence of the time and labor I commit to my work to instill a non-material notion of value.
Drawn images on some pieces employ a loose narrative structure, with vaguely familiar scenes. I select objects with potential, drawn in pairs and groups, primed for activation. Simple stories in the images remind us of quiet, routine endeavors, and grant them a value, an importance, sometimes overlooked.
The composed nature of my work reflects a subdued logic, a focal point of my investigations. The endeavor is a disciplined approach, aimed to augment one's engagement with their surroundings. My work reflects distilled notions of perception, order, value, and storytelling, through objects.
Bio
In the past 14 years (and not exactly in this order), David has graduated from college (B.F.A., Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA), worked three years in a ceramics business (Santa Fe Clay Co. Santa Fe, NM), spent a total of seven years as a resident artist (at three different institutions: The EnergyXchange, Bakersville, NC; The Appalachian Center for Craft, Smithville, TN; Penland School of Craft, Penland, NC), received his Masters degree (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE), taught art at five universities and colleges (see resume), and received numerous awards and grants (again, see resume, please). He also got married and had three children. He is currently the Ceramics Fellow at Marlbor College, in Marlboro, Vermont. Part of the time, he teaches full-time, and sometimes he works in his part-time studio all of the time.
When in the studio, David pursues both TWO|ONE Ceramics with his wife, Elisa, and makes his own solo work, shown in galleries across the country. The combination of teaching, developing new prototypes and images for TWO|ONE, and making gallery work somehow keeps his days rather full, happily.
Click to View David's Curriculum Vitae
