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Thompson Gallery at Furman opens with works by Matthew Wilt


Last updated August 30, 2018

By Tina Underwood

Ceramic works by Matthew Wilt will be on display Aug. 30-Sept. 28 in Thompson Gallery of the Roe Art Building on the campus of Furman University. Regular Thompson Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. A reception including a talk with the artist is set for Friday, Sept. 28, 6-7:30 p.m. in the Roe Art Building.

The exhibition, “Simple Machines,” and the Sept. 28 reception are free and open to the public.

In a statement, Wilt says:

“My work is inspired by historical ceramics as well as the flotsam and jetsam of contemporary culture. Moche ceramics of Pre-Columbian Peru are a powerful influence, both technically complex and sculpturally compelling. The richness embodied by these ancient clay vessels drives me to make work that is emotive, reflective of my worldview, and visually demanding of the viewer. Moche artists drew from every facet of life: plants, animals, architecture, the human body, the divine and the mundane of existence. I strive to work in this manner as well, combining objects and forms from the diverse culture and society in which I live …”

Wilt leads the ceramics program at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, where he integrates cast ceramic forms with wheel thrown and hand built elements.

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Wilt received his bachelor’s in ceramics and art education in 1991 from Pennsylvania State University. He later worked at Boston Valley Terra Cotta, an architectural terra cotta restoration firm in Buffalo, New York, where he began to work more extensively with plaster molds and imitative glaze surfaces. He also traveled extensively in Nepal and Thailand prior to pursuing graduate study. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Ohio University (Athens).

The recipient of several awards, Wilt was honored with The Evelyn Shapiro Foundation Fellowship through The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has also received a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Grant, an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, and several awards in national juried exhibitions.

While working as a resident artist at The Clay Studio, Wilt continued to show nationally and internationally and taught at art schools and universities including University of Pennsylvania, Moore College of Art & Design and Arcadia University. As a visiting artist, Wilt has taught at Syracuse University, Tyler School of Art, Wichita State University and Indiana University.

For more information, visit the artist’s website. Or, contact the Furman University Department of Art at 864-294-2995.

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