Changing Hues - Vessel
Changing Hues - Vessel
1 2

Michael Gustavson

Changing Hues - Vessel
$4,200
$4,200
Sale Sold out

Michael Gustavson

$4,200
$4,200
Sale Sold out
Glazed ceramic
27"×21"×10"

Glazed ceramic

27"×21"×10"

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Changing Hues - Vessel
Changing Hues - Vessel
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About

The Piece

The form rises and tilts to one side, stretched until the walls became almost weightless. It feels like a vessel caught in motion rather than at rest, which is consistent with Gustavson's interest in forms that suggest the human figure mid-movement. The palette is quieter than much of his work, soft grey-greens and cream broken up by passages of deep red, black, and teal.

Even within this restrained range, his studio raku process produces a real depth of colour. The glazes seem to hold light from within, something that becomes most clear when the piece catches natural light from different angles. Fine dripped lines move across the surface, adding energy to what might otherwise feel still.

A piece that rewards time spent with it.

 

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About

The Artist

The Artist
About

The Artist

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 Gustavson’s practice is a firing approach he has developed and refined over decades, evolving from but ultimately departing from traditional raku. Rather than removing works from the kiln, he introduces pine needles at lower temperatures to create the reduction atmosphere while the pieces remain inside. This highly individual, studio-developed method allows him to work at significant scale and achieve exceptional chromatic depth and painterly nuance in glazed ceramic. Few ceramic artists pursue color with this level of painterly ambition.

Over a four-decade career, Gustavson has pushed the expressive potential of clay, developing a controlled yet highly responsive surface language. Describing himself as a painter-sculptor, he treats each form as a three-dimensional canvas built through layered glazes, textures, and color interactions. His vessels often suggest the human figure in motion, while his wall reliefs activate negative space as an integral compositional force. Large-scale outdoor sculptures and benches extend this painterly vision into powerful tectonic forms.

Inspired by Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, and Jackson Pollock, Gustavson’s surfaces often feature controlled dripping and expressive movement, translating the energy of abstract painting into fired clay.

Gustavson earned his MFA from San José State University in 1980. His work is held in major public and private collections worldwide, including IBM, Kaiser Permanente, Seagate, Cranbrook Museum, and Eastman Kodak.

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