he/him

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Bio:

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Austin Coudriet was born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 2019 he earned his BFA with a dual emphasis in sculpture and ceramics from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln. There he focused on fabricating large ceramic sculptures and expanding his skills in the wood shop.

Austin is currently a long term artist in residence at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts located in Helena, Montana. Here he is able to pursue his passions of teaching, and working as a studio artist. He divides his studio practice between creating design-oriented sculptures, ceramic furniture, and hand-built vessels.

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Austin has done a number of residencies, most recently he was a long term resident artist at the Clay Studio of Missoula in Missoula, Montana (2021 -2023). In 2021 Austin completed a two year residency at the Clay Art Center in Port Chester, New York. There, he helped grow the community studio by: firing kilns, mixing glazes, working in the gallery, running workshops and lectures, and performing routine maintenance on studio equipment. During the start of the pandemic, Austin moved back to Nebraska for six months, where he was offered a fellowship position at the LUX Center for the Arts and renovated their gallery space.

 

Austin helped found a ceramic collective group called Mud Ties in 2019. He is currently leading both the Social Outreach and the Social Media team.

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Statement:

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"My studio practice is an ongoing tactile conversation between soft amorphous forms and rigid linear components. Daily visual experiences of infrastructure found within the natural environment are re-contextualized through the lens of play into nonrepresentational, interactive sculpture. Amid a collision of rudimentary shapes, inspired by Deconstructivist architecture my compositions are rendered. Lines find edges, and shapes form volume.

As a child I would draw with my father, an architect. I was fascinated by the way he built with lines, they exceeded their boundaries yet were contained by the image they formed, loose but intentional. As my own drawings developed I began to explore three dimensional fabrication. I discovered how working with clay could successfully help me achieve what I was depicting on paper. Quickly my lines translated into coils, and those coils into sculpture. I collect inspiration from modernist design, mid-century modern furniture, scaffolding and clouds."

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