Dan Falby relies on the force of gravity to make ceramic sculptures that tap into the creative potential of the natural world. He is known for his dynamic process, spontaneous forms, and illusionistic glazing. His work has been shown widely in the United States and was recently featured on the cover of Ceramics Monthly magazine. Born in 1989, he received his BA in Studio Art in 2012 from Pomona College in Claremont, CA. Dan worked at the Potters Shop in Needham, MA from 2012 - 2013, was assistant to ceramicist Peter Callas from 2014 to 2015, and was a visiting artist at the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona, CA in 2016. From 2016 to 2021 he resided in Los Angeles, where he was a ceramics instructor at multiple clay studios. In 2021 Dan relocated his studio to New Hampshire. He is currently represented by Patricia Ladd Carega Gallery in Sandwich, New Hampshire
Statement:
"I use play, chance, and a collaboration with gravity to create ceramics that are a visceral record of movement and materials colliding. My work draws inspiration from my observations of nature. I am drawn to how land and life forms tell us the story of their creation in the marks on their surfaces and the postures of their bodies. Erosion by wind and rain, freeze-thaw cycles, tectonic upheavals, and biological growth and decomposition create an intricate web of contingencies that shape our world. I strive to make sculptures that possess a similar elemental happenstance.
By dropping and tossing meticulously worked clay slabs, I relinquish control of form to gravity in an act that is akin to natural phenomena. Through this process I enter into a reciprocal conversation with the material that acts as a generative engine to bring forth new forms and lines of inquiry. I conjure gravity as unifier, the force that shapes my work, the landscapes we inhabit, and our own bodies, rooting us to the earth. Once vitrified by the fire of the kiln, the hardened ceramics retain fluid impressions of this fleeting, energetic state, moments frozen in time."