Bio
Jane Shellenbarger was born in Michigan. She was a CORE student at Penland School of Crafts, Penland, North Carolina from 1987-1989. Jane received her B.F.A. degree from the Kansas City Art Institute, and her M.F.A. from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Following graduate school, she worked as a resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Helena, MT, 1996-97. She established her studio pottery, Mill Station Pottery, in rural Michigan in 1997. Currently, she is an Associate Professor at Rochester Institute of Technology in the School for American Crafts. She has taught at Northern Michigan University, Kansas City Art Institute, the University of Northern Iowa, Penland School of Crafts, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Jane has exhibited her work in several galleries around the country including; Leslie Ferrin Gallery, Lacoste Gallery, Lill Street, AKAR Gallery, Sante Fe Clay, Philadelphia Clay Studio, Red Lodge Clay Center and Baltimore Clayworks among others. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., San Angelo Museum of Fine Art, The Weisman Art Museum, The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, The University Museum, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, University of Arkansas, San Bao Ceramic Art Institute, Jingdezhen, China, and Ohi Museum, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan.
Artist Statement
My work is grounded within a pottery idiom, incorporating historical references with domestic objects. I work in both porcelain and black clays, firing with atmospheric kilns. Often the pieces undergo multiple post firings to achieve a depth of surface.
While utility has provided a compelling set of parameters, I am intrigued with the ability of pots to transcend themselves as objects and convey information through surface, context, and form using the vessel as a format. At its best, the work becomes both artifact and object of the contemporary world.
My work draws from many sources to create objects that fraternize with an edge, the moment where expected beauty becomes deconstructed—and where the familiar is reconsidered.
