Untitled, 2019

Brian Rochefort is known for his sculptures made of stoneware and earthenware, often layered with multiple glazes, or with melted glass. The unique custom painted shelf here contains a collection of some 35 unique ceramic vessels. Drawing from his experience of exploring the earth’s natural beauty, his work is inspired by volcanic landscapes, earthen depressions, remote tropical rain forests, protected barrier reefs, and exotic animals. Rochefort’s vessels are created utilizing a process that is principally additive. Each cup begins as a small cylinder. The works are then glazed and fired over with color and accumulated texture; these steps are repeated and a single work can go through a process of several firings. As a lexicon of surface finish and coloration, the shelved groupings are chromatically rich in color, and varied in surface volume which belie the artist’s rigorous investigations into process and material. Rochefort’s work pushes the formal and technical confines of the medium of ceramics, and this never-exhibited cabinet forms a glossary to the artist’s larger practice.

Brian Rochefort (born 1985 in Lincoln, Nebraska) holds a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design (2007). In 2019, Rochefort had a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara, California. Group exhibitions include Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida; Everson Museum of Art, New York; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California, all in 2017. He lives and works in Los Angeles.