Michael Gustavson
Michael Gustavson is a California-based ceramic artist who builds upon the traditional Japanese process of raku, reimagining it through a distinctly contemporary and highly personal methodology. His work bridges free-form organic sculpture and painterly abstraction, distinguished by unusually vivid, luminous color rarely achieved in ceramic sculpture. Central to Gustavsonβs practice is a firing approach he has developed and refined over decades, evolving from but ultimately departing from traditional raku. While conventional raku typically requires removing the work from the kiln and placing it into combustible material, Gustavson instead leaves his large-scale pieces inside the kiln, introducing pine needles at lower temperatures to create the reduction atmosphere.
This highly individual, studio-developed adaptation not only allows him to work at a significantly larger scale, but more importantly enables him to achieve a level of chromatic depth and painterly nuance rarely encountered in ceramic sculpture. Few ceramic artists pursue color with this level of painterly ambition at architectural scale. The resulting surfaces possess a richness and vitality that often surprise viewers unfamiliar with how technically demanding such color is to achieve in fired clay. Over his four-decade career, Gustavson has continually pushed the expressive potential of ceramic, developing a controlled yet highly responsive surface language that explores the harmony of form, texture, and color. Describing himself as a painter-sculptor, he approaches each work as a three-dimensional canvas, building complex surfaces through layered glazes, textures, and color interactions. His vessels, wheel-thrown and hand-stretched, often suggest the human figure in motion, while his wall reliefs - composed of fragmented slabs in diptychs, triptychs, or larger groupings - activate negative space as an integral compositional force. In recent years, his large-scale outdoor sculptures and benches have expanded this painterly vision into powerful tectonic forms. Drawing inspiration from modern masters including Joan MirΓ³, Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, and Jackson Pollock, Gustavsonβs surfaces frequently carry passages of controlled dripping and expressive movement. The result is ceramic that conveys the immediacy and energy of abstract painting while remaining fully grounded in sculptural form. Gustavson earned his MFA from San JosΓ© State University in 1980. His work is held in private and public collections worldwide, including IBM, Kaiser Permanente, Seagate, Cranbrook Museum, and Eastman Kodak.
EDUCATION
Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)
San Jose State University, San Jose, California
1977-1978
Master of Arts (M.A.)
San Jose State University, San Jose, California
1976-1977
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
San Jose State University, San Jose, California
1973-1975
Associate of Arts (A.A.)
Rio Hondo Community College, Whittier, California
1971-1973
REPRESENTATION
2025-Present
Art Scout Online Gallery, Monterey, California
2025-Present
Interfusion Artwork, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2010-Present
Hawthorne Gallery, Port Orford, Oregon
2000-Present
Sculpture Site Gallery, Glen Ellen, California
1996-Present
Hawthorne Gallery, Big Sur, California
1995-Present
Paul Mahder Gallery, Healdsburg, California
PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS
Los Altos Hills Community Center, Los Altos Hills, California
Willow Glen Downtown Public Art Program, San Jose, California
Wareham Development Public Art Projects, Emeryville and Berkeley, California
El Rancho Verde Affordable Housing Public Art Project, San Jose, California
Yountville Public Art Program, Yountville, California
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Corporate Collections
IBM
Apple Computer
Seagate Technology
TRW
Hughes Aircraft
Visa USA
Metropolitan Life
Coldwell Banker
Mitsu Bank
Sitmar Cruise Lines
Kaiser Permanente
Bank of America
Boulder Community Hospital
Cabrillo Community College
Children's Hospital Boston
Children's Hospital Colorado
Sea-Tac International Airport
Sequim Medical Center
Hospitality Collections
Cable Beach Hotel, Bahamas
ANA Hotel, Tokyo, Japan
Maxim's, Palm Springs, California
Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California
Hilton properties worldwide
Sheraton properties worldwide
Marriott properties worldwide
Hyatt properties worldwide
Private Collections
Goldie Hawn
David Cone
Jerry Weintraub
Dr. Linus Pauling
Owners of the Philadelphia 76ers
Collectors throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Santa Cruz Sentinel
"Earth to Art"
April 2010
Ceramics Monthly
"Michael Gustavson"
September 2004, p. 36
Independent Coast Observer
"Artist Passes Legacy to Next Generation"
February 2004, p. 5
Taos Magazine
"Irresistible Clay"
July 1996, p. 20
Peninsula Magazine
"Michael Gustavson: The Timeless Art of Clay"
Fall 1990, p. 58
American Ceramics
"Michael Gustavson"
April 1985, p. 68
The Peninsula Times Tribune
"Mixed Media on View at Peninsula Gallery"
April 13, 1979, p. C8
San Lorenzo Valley News
"Airport Living Inspires Artist"
Winter 1978
β As you look at my works, you will see the many techniques I use to shape clay and express my vision. For almost 50 years I have treated the forms I create as a painter treats canvas, with glaze as my paint. Through these works I continue to explore the language of clay. The true statement lies not in words, but in the work itself. β![]()
β As you look at my works, you will see the many techniques I use to shape clay and express my vision. For 40 years I have treated the forms I create as a painter treats canvas, with glaze as my paint. Through these works I continue to explore the language of clay. The true statement lies not in words, but in the work itself. β![]()
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