cori crumrine

Duration: february-march & october 2020

Cori Crumrine is curious and concerned by the attractive qualities of artificial things; flavors, colors, and materials.  The world’s consumption and obsession with plastic is a conscientious issue that she wants to examine further through her work.  Cori borrows confectionery forms and colors from the culinary world, playing with the duality of delight and distaste.  Utilizing the food aspect of her work, she hopes to incorporate repurposed artificial materials into her studio practice so as to create work and conversations about the issue of consumption. 

Cori Crumrine departed our residency early due to COVID restrictions, but she returned to finish her residency in October.

quick facts

How many years have you been working as a clay artist? Over 10 years - I took a ceramics class back in high school and immediately knew I wanted to learn how to turn clay into a personal & professional teaching opportunity.     

What is your main clay body that you currently use?  A Laguna Clay white stoneware (low grog), but when I have the supplies/space, l’ll mix batches of colored porcelain.

What is the primary method you use for building your work? All of my pieces start as solid lumps of clay, which I shape with my hands until something about the form catches my eye.  I’ll pinch, fuss, and collaborate with a form as I work with it, refining the surface using dental tools & a rubber rib tool until a satisfying silhouette emerges. I hollow out each piece (to aid with drying & the firing process) with a trimming tool and wedge the trimmings into a new lump of clay to shape later.

What is your favorite studio tool? It’s a tie between my wireless headphones & my mini red rubber Mudtool rib - it’s become clear on the edges from so much smoothing over the years.

Do you have any future clay wishes or dreams? Teach, teach, teach, and make, make, make.

I’m aiming to add to my portfolio and expand my teaching repertoire by continuing to explore my current interests & seek out new experiences.  I look forward to the day when I’m viewed as a qualified candidate for a long-term teaching position – helping future BFA & MFA students develop their work is my ultimate goal, but I’ll know I’ve really made it [as a ceramics instructor] when I’m offered the opportunity to teach a workshop at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.  Additionally, I’m adamant to develop a sustainable studio practice and use my work to bring more eco-conscious ideas to the contemporary ceramics table. 

ARTIST STATEMENT

I like to treat my pieces as party guests, engaging them in small talk while over-analyzing their appearance and intentions. This metaphor, impressionistic rather than schematic, allows me to organize my work into a variety of moods & personalities. Each piece emanates an individual curiosity; a need to determine whether it is fresh or stale, benign or noxious, artificial or genuine.

As an object maker, my work is driven by my sweet tooth and informed by my obsession with color. Ultimately, my work is an attempt to harness delight and intrigue using a medley of vibrant colors and confectionery forms. While some are quite lush, others are slightly off-putting, and many tempt your taste buds. The pieces reference a number of familiar forms, yet none are implicit enough for you to create an immediate label.

BIOGRAPHY

BORN: Columbus, Ohio, USA

Cori Crumrine’s ceramic work is fueled by her sweet tooth and obsession with color.  Her small-scale confectionery forms explore the attractive and artificial qualities of food and how it engages the five senses.  She is actively working to adapt a sustainable approach to making, aiming to eliminate plastic and excessive waste from her studio practice.  

Born in the Southwest and raised in the Midwest, ceramics has lead Cori to pursue creative opportunities across the U.S. & abroad. She earned BFA in 2013, from Bowling Green State University, and afterwards studied as a post-baccalaureate at the University of Colorado Boulder. Cori completed her MFA from the University of Montana in 2018, where she recognized her desire to pursue teaching. In 2015, Cori was selected to be a resident artist at the Künstlerhaus Stadttöpferei Neumünster in Germany. After completing a year of teaching at Unity College in Maine, Cori attended Haystack Mountain School of Crafts as a work-study student in the summer of 2019, and is currently based in Columbus, OH.