Bio

Elijah (Chip) Wagner

Born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, Chip Wagner took their first ceramics class freshman year of high school. The desire to be an artist arose from this meeting with clay and excessive doodling in most classes. They are currently a BFA candidate at Ohio University, concentrating in ceramics. Chip is also pursuing a minor in Philosophy and studied art history through an Ohio University study abroad trip in London, December 2019 to January 2020.  In August of 2019, they attended two workshops at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts: one with Austin Riddle on subtle pastel flashing in soda kilns and the other with Steven Cheeks, a carving commentary on pottery. Other interests have included courses in Plant Biology and playing board games. 

In 2020 they were awarded second place in the 2nd Annual Undergrad Exhibition at Majestic Galleries in Nelsonville, Ohio. Wagner has been selected for multiple juried art exhibitions including Waterloo Art Gallery, the Ohio University Art Gallery, and the Dairy Barn Arts Center. 

Artist Statement

Allowing plasticity and spontaneity in my practice is a conscious choice. Clay is pliable in three dimensions. When listening to how this material wants to act, my intention continuously rearranges to correspond with the clay’s desires. Further, this allows me to be a bit surprised by them. Ceramics can be subject to marks from tools such as brushes, wooden ribs, needles, carving tools, and the hands. Using these tools, I enjoy bold mark making such as is seen in some abstract expressionism. When this gets incorporated into pottery, or functional objects, the user becomes intimately involved with how the pot was crafted. 

As for the forms I create, I am inspired by wabi-sabi, a traditional Japanese aesthetic that revolves around appreciating beauty through the acceptance of imperfection. Surrealism is another movement that is influential for my work, as its emphasis on the subconscious interacts well with spontaneity. I find surrealist works to exist in an interesting realm somewhat between realism and pure abstraction.

The other main component of my work comes from doodling, which is a freestyle manner of drawing. For me this often develops into creatures, people, and/or abstract visual poems. Then this gets translated to the surfaces of ceramics forms that follow the same ideal of spontaneity. Having near constant flexibility in the process allows for each piece to be a continuous interaction between me and the art object.