Bio
Chelsea McMaster (b.1995) is a Ceramic Artist of Caribbean descent. She completed her BA in Art at Millersville University (PA) in 2019 and an MFA in Ceramics from Alfred University (NY) In 2024. In 2023 she was awarded the NCECA Graduate Student Fellowship and the American Ceramic Circle Research grant. In 2024 She received the National Fulbright Award and will research Afro Caribbean Pottery. Chelsea primarily uses coil building and sculpting techniques with low-fire clay and traditional finishes. Her work seeks to find ways to represent and preserve her oral culture and traditions through the ceramic process.
Artist Statement
Black material culture is filled with objects whose complex origins reflect the people they are tied to. I make objects that hold the stories, memories and everyday occurrences that are yet to become ritual. Through the language of Black hair, I explore the idea of the braid as an artifact that exists uninhibited by the boundaries of time and space. Contemplating lived experiences in a black body, I hold space for objects forged through a process of communal history making. Using materials and processes in relationship with the artistic traditions of the African diaspora, I communicate the connection between place and identity. I further explore the parallels between the vessel, the body, and women as collectors and keepers of knowledge.
The Unbound Archive is a living reliquary for stories, memories, and everyday objects. In this conceptual space, objects are imbued with reverence for the daily rituals, practices, and culture that they facilitate. The archive endeavors to halt the othering of ourselves by enshrining the knowledge held by the people and objects that carry our past and breed respect for the unrecorded. By undermining the social systems of the valued and the valuable my work identifies and elevates ideals, and cultural practices before they need to be preserved. This work is in memoriam and celebration of traditions lost, and yet to be formed, and customs kept and passed down.
Artist CV
Education
2024 - MFA in Ceramics, Alfred University, Alfred, NY
2019 - BA in Art Millersville University, Millersville, PA
2013 - AA in Graphic Design, Antigua and Barbuda International Institute of Technology Antigua, W.I.
Work Experience
2022-24 - Graduate Teaching Assistant, Alfred University
2023 - Programming Assistant, Alfred University Summer School
2020-22 - Digital Marketing Associate, Sensationnel, Hairzone Inc.
2018-19 - Print Production Assistant, Superior Tech
2018-19 - Ceramics Studio Work Exchange, Goggle Work Center for the Arts
2017-19 - Ceramics Studio Tech, Millersville University
2016-17 - Graphic Design Intern, Turkey Hill Dairy
2015 - Intern, Macy Advertising
2013-14 -Graphic Designer, Antigua Public Utilities Authority
Teaching Experience
2024 - Teaching Assistant, Alfred University, Alfred NY (Introduction to Wheel Throwing With Jason Green, Spring)
2023 - Teaching Assistant, Alfred University, Alfred NY (Introduction to Wheel Throwing with Adero Willard, Fall)
2022 -Teaching Assistant, Alfred University, Alfred NY (Ceramic Pottery II with Lindsay Montgomery, Spring)
2019-20 -Artist Instructor, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA
Awards, Grants, Fellowships
2024-25 - Fulbright Fine Art Research Award (Forthcoming)
2024 -American Ceramic Circle Research Grant
2023 - National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts, Graduate Student Fellowship
2019 -Thaddeus Mosley Scholarship, Touchstone Center for Craft
2018 - Winners Circle Award,11th Annual Juried Student Exhibition Millersville University
2018 - Work Study Scholarship, Penland School Of Craft
2018 - Work Study Scholarship, Haystack Mountain School of Craft
Bibliography
“Art and Culture” Featured Artist; Simply Antigua Barbuda 2019 Hotel Room and Coffee Table Tourism Guide December 2018: page 262. Print.
“Relative Mis-interaction” Made In Millersville Journal 2018 Online Publication
Solo Exhibitions
2024 - The Unbound Archive, Fosdick Nelson Gallery, Alfred, NY
2019 - The Being, The Body, The Vessel, Swift Gallery, Millersville, PA
Exhibitions
2024 - 8 Fluid Ounces: Mud and Moonlight Fusion, Glassell Gallery, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
2023 - Rising, Cohen Gallery, Alfred, NY
2023 - Clay Holds Water, Water Holds Memory, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH
2021 - The Things We Carry, Eutectic Gallery, Portland, OR
2020 - Astro American, GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA
2019 - Dare Small, The Cluster Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2019 - Listen, Sweetwater Center for the Arts, Sewickley, PA
2019 - 11th Annual Juried Student Exhibition Millersville University, Sykes Gallery, Millersville PA
2019 - Keystone Clay; East - Baltimore Clay Works, Baltimore, MD
Presentations, Lectures, Conferences
2023 - Presentation and Undergraduate Critiques, Grand Valley State University Ceramics Forum, Grand Valley, MI October 25
2023 - Artist Talk and Demo, New York State College of Ceramics Summer School, Alfred University, Alfred, NY July 3 -30
2023 - Panelist, We’ve Been Here the Whole Time Panel, NCECA Conference Cincinnati, OH March 17
Collections
Flyroom Collection, Lugano Switzerland
The MFA Collection, Alfred Ceramics Art Museum, Alfred, NY
The Colored Girls Museum, Philadelphia, PA
St Claire Collection, Jonesboro, GA