Naomi Peterson

2021, M.F.A., Studio Art: Ceramics
Based in Houston, Texas but moving to Kansas City, Missouri
Artist-in-residence at the KC Clay Guild in Kansas City, Missouri

Instagram: N.Ceramic
Website: Naomi Peterson

Named One of 21 Emerging Artists for 2024 by Ceramics Monthly

Tell us a bit about yourself. Hello! I'm an artist and educator living in Houston, Texas, with my husband, sister, two dogs, and a large plant collection. After graduating from the University of North Texas in 2021, I moved here to accept a residency at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. Over the years, I've taught various classes and workshops locally and nationally, in-person and online. Most recently, I had the pleasure of teaching a workshop at the Boulder Potter’s Guild in Colorado. I'm also serving my second year as the exhibitions chair of ClayHouston, a local nonprofit and wonderful ceramics community.

In my artistic practice, I primarily identify as a hand builder. While clay is my main medium, I enjoy working with fibers and wood and using computer-aided design, CAD, technologies like 3D printing and laser cutting. My construction approach is methodical, building surfaces layer by layer. I draw on my background in painting, especially regarding color, lighting, and composition.

Each piece I create is an individual, yet they relate to each other and are stronger together while maintaining their autonomy. This concept grew during the 2020 pandemic and stay-at-home order when I found solace in the objects and environment around me. I sought comfort and connection by video chatting with friends and family about books, games, and knitting projects. These interactions helped me find joy and healing in a time of loneliness and uncertainty. Through my work, I explore the necessity of joy and the function of ornament, recognizing how seemingly frivolous things can provide comfort and aid healing.

I'm thrilled to have recently accepted an artist-in-residence position at the KC Clay Guild in Kansas City, Missouri. As a Midwest native, I'm excited for this new adventure in a familiar landscape, although I will miss Houston dearly.

What is the best advice you've ever received about working in an art- or design-related field? I've received so many great pieces of advice over the years! Here are the ones I go back to most frequently (without directly quoting because I lack a perfect memory):

From Brooks Oliver, [CVAD assistant professor of Studio Art: Ceramics]:  Notice what you notice! Look at your clothes, colors, and patterns you gravitate towards. Consider these garments you use to express yourself as references for your work. I aim to dress like my work and to dress my work as I would myself.

From Margaret Haydon [professor emeritus of Ceramics at the University of Wyoming]: Mistakes are the most important part of the learning process; even if you walk away from hours of throwing with no successful pieces, you've learned so much from the process — that's the most valuable takeaway.

From James Thurman [CVAD professor, Studio Art: Metalsmithing and Jewelry]: It's hard learning something new and possessing good taste. As you learn, you won't be immediately good and will recognize your shortcomings as failures. It's important to give yourself a pat on the back for having good taste while also recognizing that you need time for your skills to catch up.

From everyone and no one in particular: Always be open to input, but listen to your gut in the end!

3. Do you have advice for others interested in pursuing a similar career path as your own?
As a self-described people pleaser, be selfish with what you make! Don't do or make something for someone else, create because you want to. My practice is incredibly process-oriented and takes months to develop a small body of objects; the last thing I want to do is rob myself of the joy I get when spending hours upon hours fiddling with details by introducing the fear of whether or not it will sell or if people will like my work. To a degree, I do hope others will enjoy what I make, but I make for me; this leads me to research what I want to focus on, not what someone deems serious enough or worthy of attention.

I teach because I love discovering new things and the community of sharing ideas, not because it's the only avenue of financial profit open to me. I've had jobs I didn't enjoy and jobs I've loved, and they've helped me learn what kind of environments I thrive in. 

I post on social media to tell a story, primarily to myself, so I remember what I've made about things after and before, but also to engage with the broader world. "I need to be better about posting" and "I wish I were better at social media" are statements I've commiserated with other artists. I realized that posting on social media to gain likes, followers, or things I couldn't control was a self-defeatist cycle. Instead, I started small– I focused on learning how to make a video, worked on how to stage and take photos, and figured out what I wanted to capture. I learned that perfection isn't the goal; learning and improving is the goal. I've found so many wonderful people, specifically through Instagram, that I've gotten gallery opportunities and engaged in meaningful conversations with them. 

4. Was there a course you did not want to take that changed your thoughts about the world?
Over the summer of 2020, before my third year of grad school, I took an online class in Digital Fabrication with [Professor] James Thurman. That summer, I had planned to reach out to galleries for my thesis show, but now I was almost sure there would not be an exhibition, nor would there be anything in said exhibition, because I could not muster the will to make anything. Before, I had been afraid of digital fabrication, fearful of trying to create objects in an intangible world and translating them into the physical world because I would fail; it was simply too complex to understand. I prefer to influence materials like clay directly by hand through methods such as pinching. When I couldn't find the motivation to even think about touching clay, I decided learning something new would be a good distraction. I never imagined that over three months in this class, I would slowly start to rebuild my relationship with my love of making through learning something new. I approached learning each technique, such as 3D modeling on Blender, like learning a new stitch in knitting — finding a tutorial on YouTube to build my internal toolbox. 

In no small part, this class helped me realize my thesis show the following spring, giving me the confidence to laser-cut all of my shelves and pedestals. In addition, it helped me rethink my ideas on craft to encompass objects made by hand and those integrating digital fabrication. It has deepened my love for creating, not only in ceramics but also in learning and trying new things.