Opening Reception, Friday, July 11, 5-7 pm.
To enroll in a one-day workshop with Dan Falby click here, Abstract Ceramic Sculpture | Saturday, July 26, 10-4pm
Dan Falby | Exhibition Statement Tear in the Fabric presents a series of ceramic sculptures that delve into themes of rupture, resilience, and the intrinsic beauty of imperfection. These works are grounded in meticulous attention to material and process, exploring our relationship with brokenness—not merely as a flaw to disguise but as a vital aspect to be acknowledged and embraced. The visible tears and cracks become honors to each object’s history, drawing influence from the endless cycles of change and regeneration found in nature. While these sculptures often mimic the soft appearance of fabric— with forms that are folded, slumped, or draped— the illusion is broken by jagged openings where the clay has yielded to pressure. This contrast serves as a reminder that the apparent softness belies their true nature, for they are composed of earth hardened by fire. By revealing their material truth, these works challenge the pursuit of perfection, instead highlighting fragility and resilience. Each tear transforms into a moment of honesty— a point where surface meets substance, where artifice gives way to raw, elemental reality. These unguarded gestures resonate with the profound truth of existence and the understated power of letting go. Falby’s artistic process allows gravity to dictate the outcome, celebrating the unexpected ruptures that emerge from his process. Each tear unlocks new formal possibilities and emotional depths. The artist’s exploration of negative space prompts intentional slicing and rearranging of earlier works which embrace the unpredictable patterns that arise from the tears that inevitably form. These rips occur as wet clay is stretched to its limits and also as it dries and shrinks, resembling the cracked surface of a parched lakebed. These material shifts—driven by environmental influences such as gravity, evaporation, and time—become essential to the sculptural dialogue. Against a cultural backdrop that often stigmatizes weaknesses and imperfections, this series openly celebrates vulnerability, surrender, and the acceptance of change. While society may teach us to hide our seams and scars, nature unveils them— each tear becomes a visible and vital chapter of the overarching narrative. “Tear in the Fabric” invites us to see rupture not as a sign of failure but as an integral part of the journey of becoming.
Biography | Dan Falby relies on gravity to make ceramic sculptures that tap into the creative potential of the natural world. He is known for his dynamic process, spontaneous forms, and iridescent glazes. His work has been shown widely in the United States and was recently featured on the cover of “Ceramics Monthly” magazine. In 2024, Falby was an artist in residence and guest lecturer at the UMASS Dartmouth College of Visual and Performing Arts. Falby received his BA in Studio Art from Pomona College in Claremont, CA; was assistant to ceramicist Peter Callas, and was a visiting artist at the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona, CA. Previously, Falby resided in Los Angeles, where he was a ceramics instructor at multiple clay studios. In 2021, Falby relocated his studio to New Hampshire. He is represented by Patricia Ladd Carega Gallery in Sandwich, New Hampshire.
Artist Statement | Dan Falby works with gravity to create ceramics that are a visceral record of movement and materials colliding. By dropping and tossing meticulously worked clay slabs, he aims to relinquish control to gravity in an act that is akin to natural phenomena. Through these experiments and a playful search for form, he engages in an intuitive conversation with the clay. Piling and bunching slabs into mounds, letting them twist as they sprawl across supporting forms or lay flat in rippling sheets. These mysterious forms resemble bodies, topographies, fabrics, spirits, organs, and dreamscapes. By giving up control, he empowers the material to move spontaneously and more in tune with the movement of the natural world. Gravity is a stand-in for all of the ways that land and life forms take shape: erosion, tectonic upheaval, freeze-thaw, and growth and decomposition cycles. “I am fascinated by the outcomes of this intricate web of contingencies, and I strive to make objects that possess a similar elemental happenstance. Once vitrified by the fire of the kiln, the hardened ceramics retain impressions of a fleeting energetic state; they are moments frozen in time. I reanimate these forms with overlapping layers of glaze that shift, lively depending on the vantage point. Ultimately, I hope to convey a sense of motion and vitality as an echo of the process through which they are created.” –Dan Falby
