Guest Faculty Lecture: Matt Wedel & Yashua Klos

Matt Wedel

2024 Visiting Artist

Matt Wedel grew up in Palisade, Colorado, and began working with clay at a young age. Under the guidance of his father, a functional potter, Wedel developed an early understanding of clay as a studio practice. At age 14, Wedel studied traditional ceramic techniques from Manta Ortiz with Michael Wisner, apprentice to Juan Quesada.  During this time, he attended a workshop by Peter Voulkos, which further tilted the narrative of his practice within the context of ceramic history. These early studies led him to receive his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he studied under Xavier Toubes, among others. He then received an MFA in ceramics from California State University, Long Beach where he studied with Tony Marsh and Kristen Morgin. Wedel went on to teach large-scale ceramics and contemporary practice at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Rhode Island School of Design, University of Colorado, Boulder, and Ohio University. In early 2012, Wedel set up a full-time studio practice in Southeast Ohio, where he lives with his family. His work has been exhibited widely, most recently in a solo exhibition titled Matt Wedel: Phenomenal Debris at the Toledo Museum of Art. His work is held in collections and museums internationally, including the Toledo Museum of Art, The Flint Institute of Art, , the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Clay Museum of Ceramic Art, in Denmark, the Honolulu Museum of Art, and the Long Beach Museum of Art in California.

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Yashua Klos

Yashua Klos explores themes of identity, memory, and African Americans’ relationship to American labor in his multi-media practice. His large-scale works are created from the intricate formation of woodblock prints, representing ideas of Blackness through multi-dimensional, fragmented portraits. He received an MFA from Hunter College. Recent exhibitions include the major solo show Yashua Klos: OUR LABOUR at the Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY curated by Tracy L. Adler, and Yashua Klos: OUR LIVING at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME.

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