Inspired by visits to Henry Mercer's Fonthill in Bucks County, PA, Christopher
Russell began producing architectural ceramics in 1991, first for his own
loft and then for private clients. His custom tile projects have been featured
in the New York Times, New York Newsday, Food & Wine, and Tile and Stone.
His sculptural ceramics have been exhibited at the Everson Museum of Art,
Syracuse, NY; the Clay Center, Philadelphia, PA; and Greenwich House Pottery,
New York, NY. He participated in the Kohler Arts Center Arts/Industry Residency
Program in Sheboygan, MI, and was a visiting artist at Watershed Center
for Ceramic Arts in Edgecomb, ME. Christopher Russell received his Bachelor
of Arts degree from Wesleyan University in 1983. He lives and works in New
York City.
Over the past three years Christopher Russell has been exploring the intense
world of bees through a series of ceramic sculptures. Bee Work (2008) comes
out of the tradition of scientific models and the decorative arts. Russell
has many visual inspirations, including Dutch still-life paintings and nature
illustrations. For example, in developing his compositions, Russell looked
at John James Audubon's illustrations with their stylized pairings of birds
and plants. His fascination with the interrelationship between bees and
plants can be seen in Pollen, based on the magnified structure of the nourishing
substance that carries a plant's genetic material. Installed here, Bee Work
offers a rare view of the bee in the context of the garden. Jennifer McGregor
Curator, Wave Hill
Survey [view
images]