Peter Hessemer
Peter is a wet clay worker making fluid and folded forms and modeling the surface while it is soft, and uses ash glazes to demonstrate how the glazed surface can support and alter our perception of form. The surface treatment on the pottery/sculpture in conjunction with his clay forming skills creates the strong and subtle character of his work. For Peter, clay and glaze are joint forces used to convey his ideas.
His pieces contrast inside and outside color and texture or are contrasted voluptuous complex forms with the simple nature of the whole piece. The simple nature of the whole is often achieved by suppressing traditional elements of the pottery, articulation of lip, neck, and foot, to emphasize volume and texture, thus creating pieces both abstract and referential to natural or human forms. He has married his skill of being a potter with the dynamic vocabulary of his sculpture.

M.F.A. University of Chicago, 1976 (studied with Ruth Duckworth)
B.F.A. Tyler School of Fine Arts, Temple University, 1974 (studied with Rudolf Staffel)Professor of Art, Oakton Community College since 1976

Recent Publication: "Hands in Clay"

Recent Exhibits: Thomas Moser, Chicago: one person show, 2003Terra Incognito, Oak Park: one person show and workshop, 2002
Glass Curtain Gallery, Columbia College, Chicago 2002
Koehnline Gallery, Des Plaines, 2002

Pending: Columbia College "Drawing on the Spot", Chicago, Ill.Northern Illinois University, workshop/demonstration/lectureDeerpath Art League, November Show, Lake Forest, Ill.Function + Art, Chicago, Ill.

I make both small and medium scale functional porcelain pottery and large hand built stoneware sculptures. The functional pieces are comfortable to use and, I hope, beautiful to live with. The character of these folded forms, soft and sometimes textured is similar to the large sculptures. The larger sculptures have forms and surfaces of the human figure and natural geologic

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