Work

Miniature exhibitions at my parents’ retirement home. An op-ed for the New York Times.

When I met JB Blunk in 1998, it was like visiting a Jedi Master assigned vigil over the state of California. In this short article, originally published in frieze, I remember the great sculptor and craftsman.

Jes Fan creates an art full of material experimentation, and free of male/female binaries.

Published in Design and Culture in 2009.

The silent film comedian as architect, and the most radical house of the early 20th century.

The country house reimagined, one ceramic installation at a time.

Ceramic artist Adam Silverman plays a serious game in a forthcoming exhibition at Friedman Benda.

Ursula Von Rydingsvard’s exhibitions at the Fabric Workshop Museum in Philadelphia, and Galerie Lelong in New York City, reviewed.

Delivered at the commencement ceremony for the California College of the Arts, March 2018.

There’s a word we use for the convergence of tradition and optimism: that word is craft.

Originally in The Magazine Antiques, March 2018.

Our Ozymandian moment.

A designer sets up shop in Banglatown, Detroit. Maybe his studio is his real work of art.

Another young talent joins the most exciting generation of American designers we've seen in a long while. His work is stylish and intensely made, but tends to slouch into the room, as if it were no big deal.

Commissioned by the Crafts Study Centre, March 2018. 

A ceramic artist engaging in constant improvisation.

From Crafts Magazine, March/April 2018.

In a starkly divided America, reverence for hand craftsmanship might be one of the few remaining universals.

Originally published with Hyperallergic, February 2017, reviewing an exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

A shrewd designer balances craft and commerce.

Commisioned by Frieze Magazine, September 2017.

Forget left/right politics. Let's talk about complex and simple.

Commissioned by Friedman Benda on the passing of the great furniture artist.

Originally in The Magazine Antiques, January 2018.

Reconsidering decorative arts in the age of #MeToo.

From Crafts Magazine, January/February 2018.

As Clark points out, there is nothing inevitable about the Confederate battle flag’s power. It is just one fragment taken from a complex history.

Commissioned by Frieze, January 2018.

She never abandoned studio pottery; she took it along with her, as if guiding a well-loved friend by the hand.

Originally commissioned by Rago Auctions, January 2018.

Albert Paley's formal maneuvers replicate themselves in breathtakingly extended series, each a riff on all the others, like a physically manifested Coltrane solo.