Ceramicist
Ann Arbor, Michigan
abigail-murray.com
Abigail Murray is a ceramicist who specializes in handcrafted porcelain ware for daily use. Her work ranges from the elaborately crafted ceramic bowls, cups, vases, and plates that make up her woodgrain, layered, strips, and dots collections - to a set of dinnerware she created for Honor & Folly, a small-scale, design-focused inn situated in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood. Abigail's work is available at several stores such as Nora, Willys, Pewabic in Detroit, and Alapash in Chicago, as well as online or at her Ann Arbor studio. Added to her work in clay, Abigail collaborates on design projects with Archolab, an architectural research collaborative in Ann Arbor. The team is currently working on Afterhouse, a project that seeks to convert an irreparably fire-damaged home into a semi-subterranean greenhouse where plants can grow without the use of additional energy. The project has received numerous awards, such as the R+D award from Architect magazine and a grant from Kresge Innovative Projects Detroit. Abigail completed her undergraduate studies at Skidmore College and Alfred University, and earned an MFA in ceramics from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She also completed residencies at the European Ceramic Workcenter in the Netherlands and Akademie Schloss Solitude in Germany. Abigail has exhibited nationally and internationally, including the Scripps Annual in California and International Architecture Biennale in the Netherlands. When she's not working, you can find her trying to grow apples in the shade or hanging out with her two-year-old son, Ezra. Abigail resides in a blue house with a jungle of a garden on the westside of Ann Arbor with her husband Steven Mankouche, a professor at the U-M School of Architecture, their son, and two dogs named Gus and Ollie.
Book: From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg. A more recent favorite is Just Kids by Patti Smith. A friend gave me the book when I was pregnant and I loved it.
Most prized possession: A shoebox with all the best photos of my two-year-old son printed out. It’s so different having them on paper.
Destination: I’ve become a much less ambitious traveler in the last few years. Ideally, I’d like to rent a little house somewhere new and spend a couple weeks not venturing too far from it. Having good restaurants, a beach, and a museum worth visiting more than once nearby would be perfect. We went to Positano last spring before high season started. It was great.
Motto: I just want to make nice things and get enough sleep.
What were some of the passions and pastimes of your early years?
When I was really little I loved ballet. I had that book A Very Young Dancer and was convinced I would be in the Nutcracker one day. I loved music and tried to learn pretty much every instrument you can imagine, but it was singing that held my interest. I sang until college and not much since then, with the exception of singing to babies. I was fortunate to find art early on and was never discouraged from pursuing it, drawing obsessively from a young age.
When did you first realize your intrigue with the art of ceramics?
I took ceramics in high school and was incredibly lucky to spend summers at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado. It was at the Center that I started to feel like clay was a thing I not only enjoyed, but something I could make a living at. I met incredible people there who gave me the confidence to pursue art-making as my life.
Why does this form of artistic expression suit you?
It wasn’t until my last year of undergrad that I really understood that some artists are meant for some media and not others. I took a metals class and hated every single second of it. There was all this sanding and pickling to get ready to attach things. If anything went wrong you had to start over. I remember going to the ceramics studio after metals class and feeling so relieved. Clay was self-adhesive. Just smoosh it together and most of the time it stayed stuck. Hallelujah. I was home.
How did you get started in the business of ceramics?
I only recently started making functional work, as I spent most of my schooling and career working on sculpture and installations. But a few years ago I was frustrated and tired of the conversations I was having about my work. I wanted to make things that were useful and beautiful that people might want and could afford to buy. So I started making pots and I haven’t looked back.
What are you always aiming for when you begin a piece?
I had a friend in grad school who talked about making the things she actually wanted in her life. I think about her process a lot these days. I make things I want to have in my life. It’s summer, so these days I’m making planters.
How would you describe the aesthetic of your work?
Beautiful. This might sound arrogant, but that’s it. I just want the work to be really beautiful.
Do you have a creative process or routine?
I hand build on Fridays, indulging in pinch pots and slab built things. Slip-casting doesn’t come naturally to me, although I do like the results. Thanks to Josephine Heilpern of the Recreation Center, I now put “experiments” at the bottom of the kiln so that they are the last things I see. Then, there’s always something weird and cool at the bottom when I go to get it.
What led to the creation of your dinnerware collection for Honor & Folly?
I’m in a cooking club with Meghan McEwan, proprietor at Honor and Folly. We had one of our dinners about the time she was getting ready to open the inn. I was itching to make a change in my work and she was looking for things for the inn. It was the right time and the right kind of relationship. Meghan is a friend, innkeeper, and writer and she has three gorgeous kids. I was really fortunate to work with her when I was trying to figure out how to be an artist with a kid. It’s tricky and she was a big help.
Is there a ceramicist that has influenced your path?
I’ve loved the work of ceramist Ruth Duckworth and designer Hella Jongerius for a long time. And, I am recently smitten with the ceramic work of artist Francesca DiMattio. But my biggest influence by far has been Tony Hepburn who was the head of ceramics at Cranbrook when I was in grad school. He had this uncanny ability to know what his students were trying to do long before they did. At the time, I made sculpture and installations and had no interest in pots, but during one-on-one crits Tony would talk about my “attachment to function.” It was confusing, and, frankly, kind of annoying. He didn’t push it, but just kept mentioning it now and then. Five years after graduation when I started thinking about making functional work, I thought to myself, “Tony was right!”
Do you have a favorite art resource that you refer to?
I like a lot of stuff online because I have short bursts of time to read these days. I like Hyperallergic, For Your Art, and Ceramic Arts Daily. I recently bought a great book that was written by an old friend and her husband, Glaze: The Ultimate Ceramic Artist’s Guide to Glaze and Color and it’s been super helpful as I work to expand my glaze palette.
Who in your life would you like to thank, and for what?
My son Ezra for making me his mom. He’s just really fun to be around, always so full of joy. He makes riding the bus feel like it’s a trip to Disneyland. And he likes to sleep. My life is so much better with him in it.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
I can’t remember exactly how it went, but something like, “stop worrying what people think of you because they seldom do.”
From where do you draw inspiration?
I like patterns, found and made. I sometimes wish I had enough patience to be a weaver. I recently became obsessed with a Korean quilting technique called pojagi.
What three things can’t you live without?
The 20 or so minutes after my son wakes up each morning when he crawls into bed to snuggle. 70 percent cocoa chocolate. Japanese drugstore shampoo.
What drives you these days?
Functional work is still relatively new to me and I’m trying to figure it out.
