New Ceramics from Teddy Benfield

Teddy Benfield is a Boston based artist working primarily as a painter, screen printer, photographer, and most recently, a ceramicist. We first began working with Benfield in 2019 when his work was featured in our first annual Fresh Faces exhibition. Most recently, Benfield was a part of our group exhibition titled Begin from Observation along with artists Richard Keen and Samuel Stabler. It has been a pleasure watching Benfield’s work evolve over time, and we are so excited by his latest venture into the new medium of ceramics.

Benfield was also recently chosen as an “Artist to Watch 2022” by ArtConnect magazine, where curator Vanessa Souli wrote:

“I can't help but think of Van Gogh's interior depictions when I look at Benfield's art. His pictures have an illustrative beauty but the way he plays with the colour and scenes gives the works an uncanny sense of absence or of being watched. I like the ambivalence of the visual output as well as the themes and symbols he is using.”

In the interview with ArtConnect, Benfield also expresses his excitement over ceramics as a new medium to add to his artistic oeuvre. We asked him to expand on this bold choice to branch out to across mediums, to which he responded:

'“This body of ceramic work is a direct expansion of my painting practice. Borrowed motifs and mark making comment on the development of underwater subject matter and introduce a three dimensional aspect of texture and form. Using both clay and mixed mediums as texture building materials, this series of plates and bowls allows the viewer to question the traditional utilitarian aspects of these objects and insert a more sculptural mindset into the human made elements that echo the things naturally found underwater. Comments on coral formations, rocks, seaweed and fish scales are a few examples of how texture is manipulated three dimensionally to create a push and pull dynamic between what is human made and what is natural. A similar color palette is used in my paintings but the introduction of different glazes combines more marbled effects that viewers are accustomed to seeing in nature, often times the products of hundreds of thousands of years of weathering. I am excited to show this body of work, as it is a step beyond paint on canvas and relays the message of indoor vs. outdoor space; human made vs. what is found around us.”

We are so thrilled to see Benfield’s expansion of his artistic practice and look forward to all of our future collaborations.

To view Benfield’s available ceramic works, you can follow this link: Teddy Benfield - Ceramics Price List