Artist Statement

Using clay as a record of time and touch, I make objects that serve as a reflection of landscape and place, focusing on how they grow and decay over time. Forms are made slowly with consideration to volume and breath, often blooming outward. I use the kiln as a means of compressing time to weather these forms, exploring the alchemical nature shared between ceramic materials and the ever changing landscape. By firing and cooling in reduction, it forces iron from within the clay to gather on the exterior surface, as if pulling blood from a stone. This creates a variety of surfaces on the work from quiet and rustic to bright flashes of iron. These objects tell their story through the information left from the processes of making and firing; growing and decaying.

Artist Biography

Sam McCall is a ceramic artist born and raised in Southern Utah. He received his BFA from Utah State University in 2021. Since then, he has completed residencies at Red Lodge Clay Center, Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center, and the Sawtooth School for Visual Art. Recently recognized as one of Ceramics Monthly’s Emerging Artists for 2025, he is currently pursuing a Masters of Fine Arts in Ceramics at Ohio University.