Curatorial Statement
Exhibition Posted Online: Monday, September 8, 2025 at 10 am MT
Susan Filley has worked as a studio potter throughout her career. She received her MFA in ceramics from LSU with Joe Bova and Linda Arbuckle. Susan established a teaching / workshop studio and gallery in Charleston, SC, which was devoted to building a clay community. Susan Filley was the President of NCECA, the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (2000 – 2006), she is now recognized as a Fellow of the Council. She has taught many workshops and her work has been exhibited internationally. Her porcelain pottery is recognized for its elegance of form and lovely glaze surfaces.
I work with porcelain clay, a beautiful white clay. When fired, it becomes a luscious material with qualities like marble that feel very special. It is translucent when thin, extremely durable when in use, and as the Chinese described it – “as pure as jade and rings like a bell.”
I have been making pots for over 40 years. It was the functionality of the craft that first enchanted me. But now, for much of my work, I am making pots that may never be used. I value a favorite pot that lives on a shelf as much as one that might get to a dinner table. I am striving to simply make beautiful pots in all that I do.
I make many forms, using both the wheel and hand building. I love to make cups that perfectly fit the hand and lip, and traditional vessels that are simple in form, rich in history, and offer me the best of glazing opportunities. I also make more complicated sculptural forms.
In my pots and my development of form, there is a distinctive elegance.
I use many tools for carving and refining that allow me to make strong forms and graceful edges. I want a sense of gestural motion in my ‘dancing‘ teapots and strong fluid lines in the landscape forms.
I also have a passion for glazes. They enhance the movement of my work with luminous flowing crystal surfaces and embellish the pots with rich glaze depth and color. Layering of glazes promotes the microcrystalline effects. I have formulated copper red variations with delicate white crystals for cups and vessels, brilliant celadon on white glazes (the Dancing Teapot) and other fascinating microcrystalline effects that are not represented in the limited images.
After so many years exploring my fascination with porcelain, I am still always striving to make that next new and better pot.
-Susan Filley