Join us in celebrating Black History Month at Clay Art Center Shop with a collection of handmade dinnerware by Camille Beckles

Clay Art Center Shop celebrates Black History Month with a collection of functional ceramics by New-York-based artist Camille Beckles. Work will be available online and in Clay Art Center Shop from February 1st - March 1st, 2025.

Artist Statement

I make pottery because it’s fun, because it’s beautiful, because it’s useful. Well-known ceramic forms and proportions are springboards from which I explore deviations that create subtle surprises in my functional work, bringing joy to the user in otherwise ordinary moments.

Practically, this means I create well-balanced homewares with details that invite users to engage with their actions, rather than to passively participate in the routines of their day – a textured mug that disrupts absentminded coffee sipping, or a bowl that rewards a fidgety hand with indentations that remind one to stay present while enjoying dinner.

I throw with red stoneware, which I then texture by hand, usually through carving. I choose not to measure patterns as I carve. Actively selecting each stroke keeps me engaged in the moment. The resulting contrast between the perfect circle of a wheel-thrown object against my orderly but inexact markings represents my conversation between established forms and how I can find something new and surprising within them. My satiny, muted glazes create a sense of softness. Their smoothness offsets the sharper edges from carvings and textures. The result is a practical, recognizable form with details that gently demand a user’s attention, elevating their daily rituals.

My work has been featured in West Elm, Starbucks, Architectural Digest, and more. Outside of my studio, I have taught workshops at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and the Lewis Latimer House Museum. In 2023, I was commissioned alongside 17 other ceramicists to contribute work to Nekisha Durrett’s Queen City, a permanent public art installation in Arlington, VA. Most recently, I modeled my work for Artistic Tile’s “Bringing Art to Life” campaign. I practice pottery at a shared studio in New York City.

The mission of the Shop at Clay Art Center is to promote the work of both Clay Art Center artists and the work of guest artists whose work manifests a range of concepts, styles, and diversity of perspectives that informs and inspires our audience. The work available in Clay Art Center Shop aims to present the highest artistic aesthetics in handmade, non- commercial ceramics. In presenting the best we have to offer, our goal is to further not only the use and appreciation of fine handmade ceramics in the home, but the appreciation of ceramics in all forms.