
Shea at work in his studio. Photo by A. Sue Weisler
John Shea (American, b. 1989) is an American ceramic artist currently based in Baltimore, Maryland. His vibrantly painted sculptures contain an implicit duality, one that transcends time and space, balancing a contemporary surface aesthetic with a physicality that looks as if it could have been geologically formed eons ago. Shea’s process joins small shapes of clay together; however, the original forms remain visible through the pieces’ lines and contour. The raw surface texture of the piece accentuates the artist’s actions. After firing the works he sprays them with enamel oil paints, enhancing the luminescent qualities of the colors while heightening his fingermarks and the planes within the piece. Shea remarks “The work is an examination of what makes up an object. Looking at both an object as composed of individual elements and also as a set of relationships that inform those objects. The forms themselves are a mish-mash of organic and geometric shapes that push and pull against each other, a collection of individual parts pressed together…”
Shea graduated with a BFA from the School of American Crafts at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY before attending graduate school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where he earned an MA and an MFA. He has been a resident artist at the University of Montevallo in Alabama, and was a Visiting Lecturer at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY. Shea’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally.
JOHN SHEA
EDUCATION
2015-2018 MFA, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI
2015-2017 MA, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI
2012-2013 Post-Baccalaureate Program, Oregon College of Art and Craft,
Portland, OR
2007-2011 BA, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2019 Visiting Lecturer, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
2018-2019 Adjunct Instructor, Rochester Institute of Technology,
Rochester, NY
2016-2018 Instructor of Record, University of Wisconsin - Madison,
Madison, WI
2015-2016 Studio Technician, University of Wisconsin - Madison,
Madison, WI
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2019 Hostler Burrows, New York, NY (forthcoming)
ReVerb, City Art Space, Rochester Institute of Technology,
Rochester, NY (forthcoming)
Perfect Darkness, Milan Design Week, Officine Saffi, Milan, Italy
MiArt Milano, Art and Design Fair, Officine Saffi, Milan, Italy
Collect 2019, UK Crafts Council Art and Design Fair, Officine Saffi,
Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
Open to Art, Officine Saffi, Milan, Italy (Award Finalist)
Articulating Craft, Arts Center Gallery, Arts Center, Nazareth College,
Rochester, NY
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS, CONT.
2018 A Material Thing, Firehouse Gallery, Flower City Art Center,
Rochester, NY (Solo Exhibition)
Visions in Clay, LH Horton Jr Gallery, San Joaquin Delta College,
Stockton, CA
Southern Miss Ceramics National, University of Southern Mississippi,
Hattiesburg, MS
The Clay Studio National, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Objective, Master of Fine Art Exhibition, Art Lofts Gallery, Madison, WI
2017 10 Years in the Making, Concurrent NCECA Exhibition, Portland, OR
Talente 2017, Internationale Handwerkmesse Munich, Munich, Germany
Object Logic, Master of Art Exhibition, Gallery 7, Madison, WI
2016 Bizarre Stuff, Commonwealth Gallery, Madison, WI
2015 Practice and Memory, Ash Street Project, Portland, OR
2012 With Fire, Group of Anagama Fired Sculptures, Carmichael Library,
Montevallo, AL
2011 A Marker’s Path, Bachelor of Fine Art Exhibition, The Lower Mill,
Honeoye Falls, NY
SELECTED RESIDENCIES
2018-2019 Studio Resident, Rochester Institute of Technology,
Rochester, NY
2014-2015 Community Artist, Ash Street Project, Portland, OR
2011-2012 Artist In Residence, University of Montevallo, Montevallo, AL