Artist Statement:

Working with my hands is a sacred experience. This celebration is represented as a physical doxology, or, “an expression of praise” in my ceramic vessels. My cups seek to commune, my bowls long to serve, my columns reach for the Creator.

I make wheel-thrown and altered forms that are based on objects from my family’s farm; my pouring vessels echo a camping coffee pot that brought my aunts and uncles together in the early morning, or a vase that is based on a ceramic drainage tile my grandfather used while working the fields.

I create tension in these objects by using repurposed tools from my time working in the construction trades. I capture the feeling of plow-scraped fields by utilizing a tiling trowel on the surface of my vessels. The texture embodied in the surface is balanced by the refined control of the form. These themes of connecting to the narratives of my family, celebrating the skill and workmanship of the common trades, and manifesting a contemplative experience are expressed through simple ceramic forms and my touch as a maker. My work strives towards a timeless truth: that the glorious can be found in the mundane, the divine in the common.

Artist Bio:

Eric Ordway (b. 1984) was born and raised near Columbia, MO. He was first exposed to ceramics at Moberly Area Community College. He continued studying ceramics while attending Colorado State University-Pueblo where he found a connection to soda firing and functional pottery. After graduating with a BFA in 2013, Eric moved back to Columbia to work as a post-baccalaureate student at the University of Missouri (MU). While there, he made soda-fired functional wares while researching green glazing and sgraffito techniques.

Eric then moved on to work as a resident artist at Morean Center for Clay in St. Petersburg, FL. There he began firing wood kilns of differing designs. During 2015-2016, Eric taught ceramics to upper division students at Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa, FL. It was during this tenure that he discovered he loved teaching ceramics as much as making with clay.

Eric returned to Columbia to pursue a Masters of Fine Art. Back at the University of Missouri, Eric primarily focused on thrown and altered ceramic vessels. He continued his research in atmospheric processes by firing wood and soda kilns at MU. His research eventually led him to the body of selected functional and sculptural vessels exhibited in his thesis show Doxa: Prayerful Pots at the George Caleb Bingham Gallery.

Eric has exhibited his work in juried and invitational shows both on a national and international level. He splits his time as a Lecturer of Ceramics at Truman State University, in Kirksville, MO and Studio Manager at Access Arts in Columbia, MO.

Eric Ordway currently lives in Columbia, MO with his wife, Chelsea, and dog, Lily.