Eike Maas

Artist Statement:
For as long as I can remember I’ve had a grass-is-always-greener mentality, daydreaming and never settling in one place for long. My friends and the places I call home have become spread around the world, and at times the only connections to them I can muster are through my memory and nostalgia. This longing underlies my work with clay. My work is the product of two processes: first, discovering the events that tether me to the people and places around me now, and secondly, meditation on those distant people and places who I miss. The process of making each piece is of primary importance, the end product is just the incidental result. In ceramics, the unpredictability and fleetingness of life are reflected in the uncontrollable atmosphere of the kiln, and the permanence of the meaningful connections are captured in the fired clay.

Artist Bio:
Eike Maas, born in rural Pennsylvania, is a ceramic artist, furniture maker, and architectural designer, creating works tethered to specific places through their materiality and production. Eike earned a B.Arch from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia in 2014, thereafter pursuing a career in architecture and furniture fabrication for notable practices in Atlanta, New York City, and Los Angeles, and collaborating on projects internationally. While living in Death Valley, California from 2020-2021, Eike fell in love with the ancient, exposed geology of the area, leading him to explore wild clay and minerals as a medium. Eike’s collaborative works in wood have been exhibited at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair and the Arch Digest Show in NYC, and at the Grande Galerie of ENSAG in Grenoble, France. This is Eike’s first time exhibiting his ceramic works.