Steph Galli

Bio

Stephanie Galli is a ceramic artist and educator originally from Metro-Detroit, Michigan. Galli holds a MFA (2016) from Indiana University, Bloomington and a BFA (2012) from Central Michigan University. Her ceramic sculptures and utilitarian vessels have been exhibited nationally and internationally, most notably at Miami Art Week, The Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and Hangzhou Peace International in Hangzhou, China. Stephanie’s work has been featured in publications such as Ceramics Monthly, American iPottery, and BADAO ART. She was named an Emerging Artist in 2017 by Ceramics Monthly.   

Passionate about travel, Galli has spent time making art in China, Italy, Malaysia and across the US. She has been a resident artist at the Pottery Workshop Jingdezhen China, AMACObrent Indianapolis IN, Red Lodge Clay Center in Montana, and MudFire Clayworks in Atlanta GA.

Stephanie is currently an Assistant Professor of Art (Ceramics) at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where she also maintains an active studio practice.

artist statement

Elevating our experience with food and drink, the utilitarian vessel is meant to be held, used, and integrated into everyday life. Visually, the vessel acts as a collaborator with the food and beverage, complementing one another. Haptically, one will notice the form of the handle and foot fluently resting in their hands, the rim sitting effortlessly on their lips, and their palms warming as they wrap them around their morning coffee or evening tea. This connection brings the work beyond the gallery, reintroducing the vessels to the tactile from whence it emerged as clay.

Some of the most enthralling moments for me happen during the making process, when the clay is still soft and malleable, or when the glaze is responding to high temperature and beginning to melt and move along ceramic surfaces. The curvature of form, thickness of glaze application and firing sequence are variables that are considered to achieve movement of glaze and encourage drips to hang off each vessel. The black underglaze goes on the vessel as solid, graphic lines that bleed through the translucent glaze during the firing. I strive to visually share these moments with those that have never touched clay before and those who have been seduced by the medium for years.

Exhibitions