Carolyn Watkins, 2015 graduate of IU’s ceramics MFA program, spent the last year traveling around the United States and developing her studio practice.
Watkins said the initial body of work she amassed while at IU was somewhat erratic.
“I tried almost everything I thought of,” she said. “I was making large scale busts and abstracted disembodied heads.”
However, Watkins said it was this free experimentation that led her to a more coherent direction. She said by the middle of her second year at IU she had focused in on abstracted vessels with strong figure references.
Watkins said these ideas gradually gained momentum from various vessels she admired, like the Maebyong vase shape in Korean ceramics. Ultimately, this resulted in her MFA thesis show in the spring of 2015.
After graduating, Watkins continued to teach a summer ceramics course while figuring out her next step.
“My professional goals were not very specific,” she said. “I applied for a number of positions, more residencies than jobs.”
Watkins did not look for stable, long term positions, hoping to avoid putting down any roots.
“I knew my first year out of school was likely to be mobile, unsettled, and exciting,” she said.
One of her first opportunities was a 10-week Artist in Residency program at the Anderson Ranch in Snowmass, Colorado. There, Watkins was able to spend her winter freely experimenting with all the tools she needed at her disposal.
“Anderson Ranch was a very special experience,” she said. “I would recommend it to others. It was a wonderful place to be in transition. You have everything you need as an artist, including a group of other artists to bounce ideas off of. I experimented quite a bit there, and those experiments were necessary and fruitful for where I am now.”
Currently, Watkins is an Artist in Residence at the Houston Center for Contemporary Crafts. In addition to the work she creates at HCCC, Watkins teaches workshops in Houston at the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and at the College of the Mainlands in La Marque.
Watkins said her experimentation at Anderson Ranch allowed for a more disciplined studio practice in Houston, much like her artistic progression at IU.
“I now feel good about disciplining myself to create a coherent body of work because I had time to experiment at the Ranch,” she said. “I think this is typical of my work flow. Experiment then discipline.”
Having only one more month left in her residency, she plans to pitch her body of work as a solo show in Houston sometime this coming year.
Watkins said she enjoyed this year of travel despite the trials it presented, but the process of picking up and moving can be detrimental to one’s pre-existing workflow.
“I intend to stay in Houston for at least a couple of years right now for that reason,” she said. “Packing up the studio and moving every few months can be disorienting. I wouldn’t change it, though. The people I’ve met and the places I’ve gone are completely worth it. That’s the trade off. Amazing experiences and brilliant friends is worth it.”
As of right now, Watkins said her goal is to build a more permanent studio, while continuing to participate in shorter residencies during summer or winter breaks.
“I’m looking to create some stability and balance, if only to be able to store my work safely and keep a better log of my studio practice,” she said.
