Cory Brown

What's so striking about Cory Brown's work in clay is how little clay there seems to be actually contained within it— the vessels are remarkably light for their size, because the bulk of their swirling, frothy, burgeoning volume comes from the expansive action of the foaming glaze they are covered in.

Across Brown's work as a whole, it is glaze takes precedence; he is a part of the particularly 21st century school of ceramists for whom glaze moves beyond surface and transforms into a structure in and of itself, on occasion eclipsing the clay body beneath (as evidenced by his more abstract, sculptural ceramic works).

Brown is a career potter. "Before I knew what I was doing, I wanted to make pottery," he tells us. "Ceramics has been my greatest teacher and my unwearied guide." His prodigious talent when it comes to glaze-work is, no doubt, why he has been able to make a career developing new glazes; and, while a the half of the secret behind good glaze lies in a thorough understanding of the chemistry behind it, the second half has to do with having a good eye for color, and giving the eye space to travel.

The vessels in this presentation, though all vases in the classical sense, are of the cutting-edge, contemporary persuasion. Color and texture are at the forefront of the works, each of which is a self-contained, technicolor explosion. These are veritably joyful pots: feasts for the eyes that make a strong statement whether grouped together or set apart. Though still as stone, they are full of movement— vibrant chemical reactions frozen in time by the fire of a kiln.