Pottery artist Amanda Bury is the Ceramics Monthly 2021 Emerging Artist of the Year. Her work, featured in the Crafts Center this spring, pays tribute to the culture and origins of the food we eat.

After growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Bury attended college at Central Washington University and graduated with B.A.s in studio art and anthropology. She worked on art and sculpture installations for about a year before she found her passion for pottery in 2012.

“It’s not a very loud art form,” Bury said. “It can be — but in my opinion, out of all the other media, it’s pretty quiet. It’s designed to live alongside us.”

Largely influenced by the outdoors and her summer gigs on farms, Bury drew inspiration from a “foundation of connection and respect for the natural world.” As reflected in her work, these themes symbolize the pivotal role that food plays in our everyday lives.

Following several residencies across the country and a graduate degree in ceramics from the University of Montana, Bury moved to Advance, North Carolina in August 2021 as a full-time studio artist.

In January 2022, Bury was invited to the Crafts Center to lead a pottery workshop, in which she offered participants the chance to explore 3D art through the expressive medium of clay. Planning for an indefinite future in North Carolina, Bury tapped into the state’s vast web of networks for ceramic arts and planned to get rooted in the state’s artistic community.

According to Bury, intertwining the foundational themes of nature and food in art is integral to her style.

“The underlying assumption that you’re making is that those two properties are separate, which they are not,” Bury said. “To me, food is nature. I know it’s really hard for people nowadays to comprehend this idea because we just go to the grocery store … but it truly all came from something that was connected to the ground and originated from a natural environment. Those two things are not separate in my mind.”

And indeed, the connection between food and its natural source is highlighted throughout Bury’s expressive clay work with ornate designs of leaves, trees and plants. By combining handbuilding and wheel throwing techniques to create organic, aesthetic forms, Bury produces elaborate and imaginative food containers and colorful imagery to convey her ground-to-table philosophy. 

“My feeling is that you don’t have to be in a fine art gallery to come across pottery, which means a lot more people are going to see it and relate to it,” Bury said. “It is something that is meant to be brought home, not just something that exists in a white-wall gallery.”

Moreover, the utility of pottery adds to its modern appeal and makes it more approachable for any audience. Bowls, plates and jars make up daily objects that might be found in a kitchen pantry, directly tied to the food they hold and the larger agricultural system in a grander sense.

For instance, Bury experimented with designing a small box to hold the garlic she always uses in her cooking.

“In this case, I didn’t have to think necessarily about function in the same way that I do when I make a bowl,” Bury said. “A bowl … would be used in a microwave, it would need to go in the dishwasher. None of those considerations would need to be evaluated when creating a garlic box, so I was a little more free to be more exploratory on the surface’s design because it’s something to be used on display.”

Furthermore, Bury spoke about the challenge of being a full-time studio artist. Rather than having an extended period of time to work on a single piece, such as a painter might, she produces multiple pieces at the same time. Before transitioning to her current job, Bury worked a part-time day job.

“I was also teaching at the studios,” Bury said. “I was doing residencies at other sorts of side jobs. But when I moved here, I decided to be dedicated full time to my own business.” 

Looking forward, Bury plans to expand her presence. Next month, the National Conference on Education for Ceramic Arts will be holding its annual show in Sacramento, California. Bury’s exhibit proposal was accepted, and she will be traveling to California soon to set up for the conference. She intends to continue hosting week-long workshops across North Carolina throughout the summer at universities and some larger craft schools.