Artist Bio
Camille Hudson is a ceramic artist who loves stories, illustration, and dessert. She received her B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, where she studied painting and anthropology and then promptly threw all that out the window and went to pastry school. She worked for years as a pastry chef, developing her sculptural and artistic skills with a sugar-based medium. Now she applies those skills to clay, a notably less delicious but more lasting material. She creates wheel-thrown forms that act as canvases for intricate imagery inspired by the art of storytelling. She lives in Denver, CO and is always looking for a good book.
My work is an exploration of how details shape the stories we tell. I am interested in how our perspective creates the basis for what we understand to be true and how that can change. Whose voice is telling the story? What values are communicated by how we tell the story? What details are excluded to shape the truth we want? I approach these questions through carved illustrations on functional ceramics. I think about characters in the margins or details that may be overlooked such as critters underneath leaves or crawling in the undergrowth. My illustrations include rabbits, wasps, snails, and rats - all common creatures that we imbue with meaning based on our perspective, our values, and what we want from the world around us. Some illustrations have a sparse background, putting the focus on what I have included. Others have layers or forms where there are places for things to be hiding and details that can change how we understand the story being told.
I work with stoneware - throwing, altering, and incorporating handbuilt elements. I use slips and underglazes to add color and then carve the illustrations using a combination of sgraffito and mishima techniques. All illustrations are done by hand and are based on drawings from my sketchbook.
My pieces are designed to be an invitation to pick up and explore further, to look more closely and notice the details that are not immediately apparent. I want you to feel the feet and cup the bellies of the pieces, to look from another angle and see if the story changes. Through their use, I hope they bring some joy to your day and some wonder for the stories still to tell.
