Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin Hupp.
Hi Erin, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Ceramic artist Erin Hupp (she/her) collaborates with fine dining restaurants to create bespoke hand-thrown tableware pieces which bring the chef’s vision to life. Erin also collaborates with interior designers to create unique, custom objects of art designed intentionally for the home. Her work can currently be experienced at Californios, Nightbird, Sons and Daughters, Pasta Bar, Acquerello, Sorrel, and Stanly Ranch Auberge Resort.
Erin has been creating her art, by hand, on her potter’s wheel for the past 20+ years. She has been a pottery teacher, a production potter, an art camp counselor, and managed a pottery studio. In her previous lives, Erin has worked in Yellowstone National Park, waitressed at a beach cafe in Manly, Australia, bartended at a jazz club and practiced land use law and child welfare law. She holds a Juris Doctor and a Masters in Urban Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Bachelors of Science from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Erin resides in Oakland, CA with her husband, two daughters and son. When she is not elbow deep in clay, she’s chasing her children, hiking, or dreaming up the next big family travel adventure.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My art practice focuses on the intersection of form and function; I create pieces that are both utilitarian and perceived as art. Lighting seemed like a natural progression from my fine dining plates because lighting is also something we experience in our surroundings. I made my first table lamp in 2002 and then avoided making another one for two decades! Lamps are notoriously difficult. Mixing hardware with ceramics requires precision throwing on the potter’s wheel. I work with four different types of clay, with four different shrinkage rates. This means I have to make the holes and specifications just right for the socket and lightbulb fit perfectly into the clay lamp after they emerge from the kiln. For me the largest hurdle was not being intimidated by this process. Once I started designing and creating the lamps it all came together as I worked on them. Five versions later I have a system and a beautiful collection of table lamps!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I create ceramic pieces that are both functional and focal by design, my art connects you to both the beauty and intent of your day. Each of my pieces is intended to draw you closer to the slow moments of connection – to your surroundings, your home, the restaurant you dine in and the food you eat.
My practice thrives on mutual collaboration with other artists, from interior designers and chefs to floral designers and metalsmiths. These collaborations continually help me refine and redefine my practice, push my limits and build trust in my process. I feel honored to continue the rich history of clay, one of the oldest forms of art that combines both craft and aesthetic.
From inception to execution, I consider how my art will exist in a particular space and environment; each piece is handcrafted with that in mind. In restaurants, my ceramics provide the architecture for the chef’s menu and how it will exist within the restaurant space. Ultimately I see the restaurant as a live, ever-evolving gallery in which people can touch, hold, feel, interact and experience my ceramics. Ceramics tell the story of my collaboration with the chef through deliberate and artful plating.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.erinhuppceramics.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erinhuppceramics/?hl=en
Image Credits
Adahlia Cole for all except mirror, which are by Kelly Puleio