Tiffany Satterly (b. 1988) is a ceramicist based in Brooklyn, NY. Her practice began at home with self-taught handbuilding before pursuing instruction in community studios. She has been awarded scholarships to historic centers for handcraft including: Greenwich House Pottery, Penland School of Craft, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Touchstone Center for Crafts, and Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft.
Alongside her studio practice, Tiffany works as a ceramic production assistant, studio administrator, and instructor.
Satterly was born in Kerrville, TX and grew up in Houston. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Texas in Austin in 2013. She worked in the eyewear field for 14 years before transitioning to ceramics full time.
My ceramic sculptures present symbols of American Southern culture in order to explore its entanglement with class and identity.
My work references memories of growing up working class in Texas near the Gulf of Mexico. I use ceramics for cultural storytelling and exploring the nostalgia rooted in my identity. My work features imagery of my upbringing: cow print, rope, country music, and the flora and fauna of the Gulf coast, such as shrimp, trout, and oysters.
I also consider the semi-mythological polarity between the American “South” and the “North”--often conflated to low-class versus high-class--and the impact of this division on myself and others.
Ceramic cowboy boots are a primary focus of my practice. They are both a symbol and tool of the working class while also pushed to the forefront of pop culture and fashion. I engage with this dichotomy by developing a variety of styles and forms of ceramic cowboy boots, giving each piece different surface treatments to show nuanced emotions.
Fashion and personal style have strong cultural associations, encapsulated succinctly in cowboy boot designs.
With each piece, I invite the viewer to consider the hypothetical boot wearer’s identity in terms of age, gender, occupation, and socio-economic status.
Fashion and personal style have strong cultural associations, encapsulated succinctly in cowboy boot designs.
With each piece, I invite the viewer to consider the hypothetical boot wearer’s identity in terms of age, gender, occupation, and socio-economic status.
When handbuilding, I favor playful, stylized work. I aim to use the aesthetics of joy in the visual manifestation of my identity. I celebrate Southern iconography by humorously yet respectfully sculpting mundane subjects like boots, corn, and trout. This act elevates the cultural status of these objects and their histories by transforming them into Art.
When slipcasting, I make molds from found objects. I then cast replicas in porcelain, remaking each object on my own terms. A work boot can be refined, a masculine boot feminized, low quality materials transformed into fine porcelain. The distinction between highbrow and lowbrow is broken down.
When slipcasting, I make molds from found objects. I then cast replicas in porcelain, remaking each object on my own terms. A work boot can be refined, a masculine boot feminized, low quality materials transformed into fine porcelain. The distinction between highbrow and lowbrow is broken down.
Selected CV
Professional ExperienceJAN 2023 - PRESENT
Administration – Greenwich House Pottery, NYC
SEP 2022 - PRESENT
Production – Franca NYC, Brooklyn
JAN 2022 - APR 2023
Studio Technician – La Mano & Mud Matters, NYC
JAN 2022 - DEC 2022
Studio Technician – Clay Space, Brooklyn
FEB 2022 - AUG 2022
Gallery Attendant & Administration – Fort Makers, NYC
AUG 2021 - MAR 2022
Workshop Instructor, Production – Wilcoxson Ceramics, NY
Workshop Participation
2024 “Take a Seat: A Chair Building Workshop” with Austin Coudriet – General Scholarship Award – Touchstone Center for Crafts, PA
2024 “Narrative Figure: Stories in Clay” with Kyle & Kelly Phelps – Mudslinger Scholarship Recipient – Peters Valley School of Craft, NJ
2024 “Coiled Up: Figurative Building Techniques” with Kelsey Bowen – Work-Study Program – Pocosin Arts, NC
2023 “Self-Expressionism Through Clay: Human and Animal Figures” with Kyungmin Park & Taylor Robenalt – Kyle Scholarship Fund Recipient – Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts, TN
2022 “Conversations on Clay” with Martha Alicia aka Mujer Barro – Poco a Poco, Oaxaca, MX
2022 “Tools That Make Tools: Mixed Media & Ceramics Mold Making for Storytelling” with Kwok Pong “Bobby” Tso – Friends of Arrowmont Diversity and Accessibility Scholarship & Dr. Judith Temple Scholarship Recipient – Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts, TN
2022 “Play with Clay” with Reggie Pointer – Full Scholarship – Penland School of Craft, NC
2022 “Figuring Out” with Kensuke Yamada – Thad Mosley Scholarship Recipient – Touchstone Center for Crafts, PA
2021 “Low Fire is Cooler” Fall Intensive with Ben Carter – 6 Week Work-Study Program – Penland School of Craft, NC
Exhibitions
2023 “In House” – Greenwich House Pottery, NYC
2023 GHP Artists Exhibition – Greenwich House Pottery, NYC
2023 “Less is More” – Clay Center of New Orleans
2023 “Varied Vessel” – Calico Gallery, Brooklyn