We recently connected with Christian Roberts and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Christian, thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

Yes and no! I grew up competitively dancing for 10 years. Then I went off to college and I felt pressure to study something “real.” I investigated many things from forestry, to anthropology but still wasn’t happy. It took three years for me to figure out what I wanted to do. I took one clay class and immediately fell in love. I took a time off from school, transferred schools, and then it took me another three years to hone in on what it is I am doing with my voice in art. I am thankful for all that I have learned along the journey to finding my path, although it would have been nice to make the commitment to the arts sooner. Ceramics are resilient and fragile at the same time. Each failure and uncontrolled variable leads to a new path of discovery, similar to my explorations in undergrad.

Christian, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am inspired by performance and physical involvement in the creation process. When I have been unable to create, I work with my hands in a different way. My artistic journey grapples with two worlds. I constantly have a foot in the blue collar realm and a foot in the arts, two seemingly disconnected endeavors.

My recent body of work investigates representation of labor and the blue collar ethos. With my ceramics, I seek to represent the monotony of the blue collar lifestyle and the influence of labor, through a bright and humorous lens inspired by late 90’s/early 2000’s flat cartoon and plastic toy aesthetics.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Return handmade objects to your home! Live with the objects you love. The influence of art informs many of our daily choices. It only makes sense that we as a society support those who create the objects and aesthetics we surround ourselves with.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, it is in the chase to create a beautiful work of art that does everything I strive for. Artists are also scientist, and in my field there are so many variables. The only variable that is assured in ceramics, is that something will go wrong. If you asked me what the “best work,” I would say it is the one that is the culmination of research, testing, and the representation of skills physically and mentally.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://christiantrobertsceramics.com
• Instagram: @christian.t.roberts