Leah Kaplan

American ceramicist Leah Kaplan explores movement, texture and translucency through sculptural forms. Kaplan’s signature porcelain vessels blend fluidity with minimalism, often belying intricate construction that beckons viewers to take a closer look. Light also plays a central role in Kaplan’s work, casting shadows and setting surfaces aglow as it illuminates her pieces. Kaplan draws inspiration from architecture and the natural world, as well as other craft media, especially basketry and textiles. With more than 30 years of experience working in clay - and the last ten years working exclusively in porcelain - Kaplan opened her own studio in 2018 in Philadelphia. Her work has been shown in internationally juried shows across the US and can be found in both corporate and private collections.
The four pieces showing in CLAY / CRAFT / CONCEPT are part of the “Corduroy” series, a collection that attempts to capture the fluidity of textiles through porcelain, whose hardness, once fired, stands in contrast to the softness it attempts to evoke. These pieces also play with gravity, both defying and embracing its pull, lending the pieces a certain playfulness and spontaneity.