We are able to hear a single tone. But we almost never (that is, without special devices) see a single color unconnected and unrelated to other colors. Colors present themselves in continuous flux, constantly related to changing neighbors and changing conditions.
-Joseph Albers, The Interaction of Color
Influenced heavily by the architecture of her surroundings, Roberta Massuch (Philadelphia, PA) creates functional pottery, sculpture, and works on paper. Massuch received her BFA in ceramics from Northern Illinois University (2005) and her MFA from Louisiana State University (2013). Teaching positions include The Clay Studio (Philadelphia, PA), Tyler School of Art (Philadelphia, PA), and the Community College of Philadelphia. She has participated in residencies at The Wharton Esherick Museum (Malvern, PA), The Clay Studio, Tyler School of Art, Northern Clay Center (Minneapolis, MN), and Arquetopia Foundation (Puebla, MX). She was the recipient of a Mcknight Artist Residency Award (2021), an Independence Foundation Visual Arts Fellowship (2015), and a Jerome Ceramic Artist Project Grant (2009). Her work has been exhibited at universities, institutions, galleries, and museums across the United States.
The five years spent at The Clay Studio were beyond fulfilling. I cherish that I was a part of the community - stopping into the gallery to see new work and greet staff on my way up to the fourth floor. That is what I will remember the most about my time. While I was able to grow in my practice and professional life - showing in the galleries, receiving an Independence Foundation Grant to travel to Mexico in summer 2016, being resident board representative for two years - the people I met and built relationships with is really where I place the value in the experience.
My practice involves three separate, yet completely intertwined ways of working: ceramic sculpture, functional pottery and drawing. In the sculptural work, I construct compositions with minimalist, architectural ceramic forms which are coated with a film of directed or reflected light from adjacent, brightly colored surfaces. Based in color theory, these three-dimensional still lifes address the perception of objects and the spaces between. The functional objects I create also emerge from these observations. Simple vessels with white exterior surfaces are inextricably involved with nearby objects; the surface of one will always affect the perception of another due to shifts in the intensity and direction of light covering the forms.
Instagram: @robertamassuch
