Emily Bayless

Functional and sculptural ceramic pieces with nods to history and culture ; Emily Bayless creates a beautifully intriguing world with her work. We particularly love her use of glazes and varying textures.

Emily Bayless received her BFA in Ceramics from Arizona State University in 2011, and received her MFA in Ceramics from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2015. Her work has been exhibited across United States and she has given artist talks at the San Francisco Art Institute, Dickinson College, University of Florida, and Adams State University. Currently, she is an instructor of ceramics at Millersville University. She lives and works in Lancaster PA.

Emily begins to describe her work with notions of humor and vulnerability, stating, “Fake it till you make it. Challenge shapes me. I’ve had to fake it more often than I will admit to you. I embrace the faux, like imitation crab, it is the same, but different. Though, I must admit to you, I’ve never had imitation crab. Is it the same?”

She elaborates:

The work addresses the meaning and power of a boundary from different perspectives. Utilizing historic decorative forms, via non-traditional content and use of materials, the ceramic forms manifest to mock a hierarchy within art and the indulgent value placed on the ornamental that exists in western culture.

To lay paint as a finish over glaze questions which material is lending value to the other, or are they equals here? Pushing up against the history of ceramics and its place in contemporary art, the work becomes, technically and conceptually, its own act of dominance. Glazed porcelain fences defy their symbolic purpose, as well as logic of ceramic material, while sculpted details contain sexualized forms camouflaged in a vaguely familiar patterning that is itself in flux and balancing the condition of being.

Fake it till you make it.

Trust us, you definitely want to see more of Emily’s beautiful work! Find her here and on Instagram