Teaching, writing and making: an interview with Richard Zakin - Clay corner - Interview

Arts & Activities, Oct, 2003 by Harriet Gamble

Richard Zakin is a celebrated ceramic artist, a full professor at State University of New York College at Oswego, and the author of four of the most well-respected books on ceramics, as well as dozens of articles. Although Richard always knew he wanted to pursue art as a career, he never planned on ceramics--he majored in painting and eventually found his way to clay when considering graduate school.

In this interview, Richard Zakin shares his personal history and growth as ceramist, author and teacher; the evolution of his art; and his thoughts as a teacher of teachers.

H.G. Art was always part of your life, wasn't it?

R.Z. A very important part. As an adolescent I was dreamy, introverted, and happiest when working on my own private projects. One of the things I really liked doing was working in the visual arts. I took as many art courses as I could in high school and did well in them.

In my junior year, I decided that I could and should become an artist. My parents were terrified for me. My father especially thought I was dooming myself to poverty. In my senior year I won a scholarship from the State of New York and Syracuse University matched this to pay my tuition. At that time I thought that I would spend my life working as a painter. I attended art school at Syracuse University from 1954 to 1958 with a major in painting and a minor in printmaking.

H.G. You had no interest in clay as a medium?

R.Z. Although I was always interested in art, I never thought I would be a ceramist. I rarely worked in clay.

H.G. Tell us more about your time in undergraduate school. Were there particular teachers you remember?

R.Z. I enjoyed those years a great deal and remember many of the faculty with great fondness. I especially remember working with the perceptive teacher and painter, George Vander Sluis. He was very helpful to me. In the summer before my senior year, I studied with Richard Pousette-Dart at his studio in Rockland County, N.Y. He was a wonderful painter of the New York School who liked to work with multiple layers of abstract imagery marked by sgraffito and entrusted imagery.

H.G. What happened after graduation?

R.Z. I graduated from Syracuse University in 1958 with a B.F.A. degree and then went on to the Brooklyn Museum School for the next year in a non-degree program in painting and printmaking--studying with the painter and gifted teacher, Reuben Tam. I spent the next few years in a New York City suburb, making paintings and teaching part time. I knew I had to decide whether I would teach or try to work as an artist. Although I had never thought of myself as a teacher, I realized that I had come to like teaching a great deal.

I decided to try for the M.F.A. degree because that would allow me to teach in college--an environment in which I would be judged, in part, by the quality of my artwork. I applied for a number of graduate programs in painting but I had already studied painting intensively and I wanted to tackle something new. Someone told me about the ceramics program at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred, and 1 decided to apply there. The faculty at Alfred were interested in my background--strong in art, wanting very much to learn about ceramics, but free of any knowledge of the subject. They took a chance on me, and I was admitted to the program.

H.G. This is where one says, "And the rest is history."

R.Z. Yes, that's true. Alfred was a real revelation for me, and I quickly became devoted to both the people at Alfred and to the ceramic medium. I worked with the renowned ceramists Val Cushing, Robert Turner, Ted Randall, Daniel Rhodes and William Parry. I was especially close to the sculptor William Parry and assisted him in his teaching. Parry was a hand-builder--interested in unusual clay bodies and experimental ceramic surfaces--and I learned about them from him. He had wonderful form sense and was inventive. His lecturing style was personal and very moving. I admire him as a man and as a teacher, and my connection with him remains strong. I was learning a good deal quite quickly. I became very interested in ceramic surfaces and began to work intensely with surfaces appropriate to the electric kiln.

H.G. And, after graduation?

R.Z. I graduated from Alfred with M.F.A. in the summer of 1966. in January of 1967, I was hired to teach ceramics at the State University of New York at Oswego. I have taught at Oswego ever since that time.

H.G. You have continued to create and grow in your own artwork while pursuing your teaching career. Why do you think this is so important?

R.Z. I do think that anyone who teaches art ought to put aside time to make his or her own work. It is important for a teacher of art to keep on working as an artist. We must stay open to the work of others, but I think it is important to have a core identity--to stand for something and to exhibit a commitment to the discipline of work in the arts.

H.G. Can you share with us a little about the work you're doing now and what inspired it?

R.Z. For many years I worked with glazes I formulated myself and made in my studio. These glazes worked well on work whose character was dictated by its form. However, I was a painter long before I became a ceramist, and l missed the opportunity to create drawn and painted imagery. For many years I used such imagery only fitfully because I felt that I had to make too many compromises in order to draw or paint using ceramic media. Recently, I began working with prepared ceramic colors called Velvets. This medium allows a high level of control and command of detail. The creation of painted imagery on clay surfaces is easier because their color and visual texture are very similar unfired and fired--and the colors can be mixed just as with paints.