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On May 25th, 2009, Brigitte Micmacker conducted an interview with Mark Chatterley. Chatterley opened a new solo exhibition at Sculpturesite Gallery on June 25th.
BM: Your large groupings are extraordinary! Some evoke circus feats, while others seem to have sexual overtones. There are often recognizable yoga positions. How do you get the inspiration for these compositions?
MC: I do a little yoga and try to keep somewhat fit. Understanding how my body works so I can translate it into clay. I do a lot of drawing to get an idea of where I want to go with group figures. What I want to say. Sometime this includes sexual overtones or psychological situations. On the stacked groupings, I start with one figure on the bottom, then I build on top using the figure underneath to support the upper figures. I have to build them so they can come apart as individual figures and I can move them to the kiln. For the glaze firing, I fire them in the group. That way they shrink and warp as one piece.
BM: What other sculptors’ works do you admire most?
MC: I like looking at Anthony Gormley, Robert Brady, Isamu Noguchi, Louise Bourgeois, Martin Puryear, Lee Bontecou, But I also like looking at two dimensional artists’ work like Robert Parke Harrison and Paul Wunderlich.
BM: You have taught many workshops and classes. What is your favorite aspect of teaching?
MC: It keeps me on my toes mentally. I have to figure out why I do things so I can teach it to students. It also forces me to learn something new. I have been teaching an advanced ceramic course for years, and there is a core group of students who have been taking the class from me year after year. I thought that I had told them everything that I knew the first year, so coming up with something new is a challenge. And I like to think that I take the same challenge of always coming up with something new with my work.
BM: Thank you, Mark. I look forward to seeing your new exhibition of figurative sculpture, BEINGS: Clay Musings on the Human Condition at Sculpturesite Gallery next month!
