I have a dual background in architecture and clay. After earning my degree in architecture 

I turned to ceramics. My architectural training has been a formative influence on my

work as a potter.   

 

I believe in the importance of working from precedent, drawing on the accumulated 

knowledge given to us by our predecessors. My current focus is on classical and

Renaissance architecture. Using my skills as a draftsman, I have created a series of drawings and

watercolors of architecture of the Veneto region, especially work of the Renaissance architect

Andrea Palladio. I have also studied many fine examples of Palladian

revival architecture from the Beaux-Arts era in my home region of New England. 

The predominance of these buildings demonstrates the influence of his ideas.                                                                                                                                                                                     

Parallel to this pursuit, my current project in the intersection of clay and architecture is the building of eight-foot Doric columns, to which I will add my own surface treatment, linking the old and the new. To this end, in my residency period at CRETA I have explored design possibilities through a series of maquettes, toward development of full-size columns for architectural application.                                                                                                                                                          

 

The residency has been my opportunity to focus on one set of design issues without distraction.

I have generated a sequence of column proposals, especially the use of colored clays through marbleizing, mishima and neriage. These concepts are adaptable to full-size columns.

 

If during my working life I make a small addition to the accumulated legacy of artistic invention, I will consider my time well spent.                                                                      

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BIO

Andrew Quient has been a studio potter since 1975. He earned his architecture degree at Syracuse University and his master’s degree in art education at the City University of New York. He formerly taught ceramics and design at colleges in the New York area, and taught in his own pottery school from 1990 to 2014. His current focus is the visual documentation of Renaissance and

Beaux-Arts architecture, and the creation of ceramic elements for architectural applications.

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