Mariko Brown Harkin studied at the Kansas City Art Institute, where she received her BFA in ceramics in 2010. After a few years of working as a studio artist, part- time she was a accepted into the graduate program at the School of Art at Illinois State University. Mariko graduated with her MFA in ceramics in 2018. She now lives the Chicagoland area with her husband, two daughters and their dogs Lola and Moto. Mariko currently teaches at the College of Lake County and has established a home studio practice. She shows her work throughout the Midwest. When she is not working in the studio, Mariko enjoys riding dirt bikes with her family, walking her dogs and hangin’ with her sweet kiddos.
Artist Statement:
The objects I create are made to honor domesticity, the tradition of craft, and the utilitarian vessel. I consider the home a sacred place where I feel safe, relaxed, and at peace with the world around me. A home and the objects that reside in it are signifiers of what we find beautiful in the world around us. This consideration of beauty varies, as beauty and attraction are subjective. I am interested in how the objects we live and interact with daily act as statements of what one considers attractive or valuable.
I am drawn to utilitarian objects because they offer the specific purpose of use, allowing one to engage with an object on a physical and intimate level. Pottery is fascinating not only for its utilitarian function, but also for the long history that connects us through the need to create objects that feed and nourish us as a society. I find the fact that people are willing to embrace the handmade in a time of instant gratification to be a positive indication of what people value in society today. Whether a maker or buyer, there is a conscious choice to acknowledge the beauty and the uniqueness of the handmade pot. By engaging in this process, we acknowledge that this approach to making is still valid and important in today’s world.
In today’s fast-paced, technology saturated world, many people do not take the time to slow down and appreciate that which that sustain us. Handmade pots force us to slow down and contemplate things at a different pace. As a maker, and specifically as a potter, I truly enjoy this. There is nothing fast-paced or easy when it comes to ceramics. The time that it takes to transform a wet lump of clay into a finished, glazed form is important. Each step of the process provides opportunities and challenges. I think the process of seeing a pot and body of work through to fruition is what excites people about ceramics and has created a close-knit community of makers and people who actively support and appreciate these objects for what they are. Clay not only offers the maker the opportunity to make anything they desire using versatile material, it inherently can bring people together.
