Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Hodge.
Alex, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I began my art journey early on, as a child painting barns and sunflowers in watercolor classes in the deep south, rural Georgia. However, academics were always understood as my should-be priority, so I left my art-making to free time here and there. After finally taking art classes my senior year of high school, I found it to be the most intriguing, rewarding and validating on a soul level. I went on to pursue art in college at the University of Georgia, only discovering ceramics by happenstance. I immediately fell in love and spent more time in the ceramics building than anywhere else. After graduating as the Outstanding Undergraduate student of the Lamar Dodd School of Art, I felt I still had so much to learn about the medium that I decided to pursue my master’s at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL. In the summers, I have taught and ran ceramics camps at URJ Camp Coleman, as well as presently, Clay Camp at the Ceramic League of Miami. Having graduated this past May, I am adjusting to post-school life, and finding ways to integrate healthy living, balance and making into my daily grind. Teaching has always had a sweet spot in my heart, and I will be continuing to teach both children and adult classes at the Ceramic League of Miami. As for my work, it is what keeps me going, excited and sane in this era of history in which my people and our planet are in the crosshairs. We all must find our way to fight, to say what we need to say, and perhaps most importantly, to soothe our aching hearts. For me, ceramics is my voice, my activism, and my salve.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As with any journey, there are always twists and turns. Particularly through graduate school, there is an immense pressure to find your voice and simultaneously defend the idea that anyone should listen. I went through several styles of working in my first year, which was quite uncomfortable as I hardly had the language to explain what I was making, much less why anyone should care. Ultimately, the creative searching led me back to the carving technique I had discovered in undergrad. At the time, this felt like a cop-out, so probably the most difficult part of being an artist, for me, is trusting my gut to give me whatever I need to make. I don’t always (hardly ever) work from concrete idea to object. Instead, I often work from intuition, which is quite taboo in the academic art realm. Building confidence to hear and disregard the “authority” (professors, critics, etc.) as they reject your work, your methods, or your subject, is honestly the biggest obstacle and goal in getting to where I am today.
We’d love to hear more about your artwork.
My work is object-based, traditional ceramic forms that prioritize women’s narratives with a highly decorative aesthetic. My specialty is a carving technique called sgraffito in which colored slips (liquid clay) are painted on and carved through to reveal imagery, pattern, and text. In my most recent work, I have created a wall of 68 portrait plates titled, Some of Our Parts, which encompasses poetic icons that create a larger narrative through whimsy and mystery. Within the same show, I made a series titled, The Historical Jar Collection, in which seven artworks were re-imagined in clay in a way that centers the story of the muse and the Female Gaze. Some examples of the appropriated artworks are Manet’s Olympia, and Gauguin’s The Spirit of the Dead. In my sculptures, the women are seen taking care of one another with tenderness, in a way that prompts an understanding of who cares for the muse. These works are currently available for purchase through The Art: Design Project and more information can be found on my website and on Artsy.
As a brand, I am most concerned with authenticity. Every single piece is created with my hands, my heart, and the earth. I work through struggles, trauma, and illness to bring my gift to the world, and each work I create carries a piece of me with it. My greatest hope is that you will feel the love I embed in each one.
What’s your outlook for the industry over the next 5-10 years?
Ceramics is finally getting the advancement of technology that has taken over most other sectors of art-making. We now have 3D Clay printers that can spit out a cup, a sculpture, etc. The machines have so many limitations that the handmade retains its power, for now anyway. In my opinion, the beauty of ceramics and its history is its craft and cultural qualities; earth coaxed into form by human hands, what could have more allure than that? more power? For centuries, people have mastered mud to bring water to their lips, a ritual to their community. When will a machine instill spirit into the earth and offer it to you? As technology further alienates us from our surroundings, my hope is that the clay community will remain steadfast in passing on the poetic, ancient history of our field.
Contact Info:
- Website: alex-hodge.com
- Email: alexandramhodge57@gmail.com
- Instagram: @creationsbyalexhodge
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/creationsbyalexhodge/
- Other: www.etsy.com/shop/creationsbyalexhodge
Image Credit:
Photos by Alex Hodge, Maggie Tomlin, Elizabeth Guignino
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