REBECCA HUTCHINSON

2019/20 Distinguished Artist Series Artist

Rebecca Hutchinson's complex paper clay pieces evoke the natural world by creating patterns and repetitions often found there.  Using materials such as fired and unfired porcelain, old clothing, branches, and industrial surplus, she combines her skills in papermaking and ceramics to create things that exceed the limitations of one medium alone, especially in the large scale that's possible in her work.  With these objects, she celebrates the "complexity of engineering" and the inexorable force for survival in the natural world.

Hutchinson is a Professor of Ceramics at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. She received her MFA from the University of Georgia, Athens and her BFA from Berea College. Her site specific works have been influenced by ecosystem dynamics and environmental concerns. Exhibitions include solo shows and installations at the Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN; Dedee Shattuck Gallery, Westport, MA; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; Belgium Ceramics Biennial, Andenne, Belgium; San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design; Taiwan Ceramics Biennale, Taipei, Taiwan; Keramikos Internationale della Ceramica D’Arte, Bracciano Museum, Bracciano, Italy; The Society of Arts and Crafts; University of Tulsa; and Islip Museum of Art, among others.​

She is a New England Artist Award recipient and fellowship recipient from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Puffin Foundation, Virginia Cultural Commission, the North Carolina Arts Council, the Virginia Commission of the Arts, a Museum of Fine Arts Maud Morgan Award finalist, NEA fellowship finalist for the Southern Arts Federation. ​