08/27/2026
Remembrance: ceramic works by Ethan McKellar
August 24 - September 18, 2026
Benson Campus Galleries
Remembrance is a ceramics exhibition of large vessels, functional mugs, and wall-mounted platters made by Ethan McKellar. Each work is the result of contrasting processes beginning with the individual, singular building of the clay form to its completion in a communal wood firing. The uneasy contrasts of structure versus spontaneity, solidity versus precariousness, and lightheartedness versus grief extend the push-pull of Remembrance as well as the inherent stop-action of the rhythmic movement of the clay at firing. McKellar states, "Through sculptural and utilitarian ceramic work, l explore the intersection of clay's materiality and the expression of grief and vulnerability. In this work, I utilize the process of building unstable ceramic vessels and the communal action of wood firing to translate the experiences of grief and care into physical forms."
Remembrance is very personal for McKellar as a record of his own journey through grief after the loss of his father. It is a brave acknowledgement of his personal vulnerability tempered with hope. His statement continues, "This body of work reframes vulnerability not as weakness, but as an act of transparency and authenticity." He encourages us to expand the scope of remembrance beyond sadness to include light.
McKellar graduated from Clemson University in 2025 with a Masters of Fine Arts. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He has been awarded several grants to continue his research and scholarship in ceramics. His work has been shown across regional and national shows including ArtFields in Lake City, SC. He is currently the Materials and Research Manager with Haand Ceramics in Burlington, NC.
