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Born in Minnesota
Graduate of Cornell College, BSS in Studio Art, awarded Distinction, Minor in Art History
Ceramic Instructor at Eden Prairie Art Center
Artist Bio
Madeleine Louise Althoff works in utilitarian ceramics, creating surface design using sgraffito. Born in St. Paul Minnesota. She first was exposed to art at a young age by partaking in the free Saturday events at the Walker Art Museum with her fathers.
Introduced to ceramics in High School. Entering College Althoff was determined to make ceramics her life pursuit. Taking every class available, while also being the program's TA. Cornell College allowed her to create her own ceramics class during COVID-19 so that she could continue in the medium. Committed to creating an extravagant Senior Thesis project, Althoff created 58 pieces for her display, earning honors for her dedication and execution.
While a resident at the Iowa Ceramics Center and Glass Studio Althoff had a solo exhibition titled Lady of the House. Which she dedicated to her deceased grandmother. During this residency, Althoff took part in fourteen juried and group shows across the country.
Today, Madeleine continues her pursuit of connecting people back to their ancestors through design and imagery back in her home state of Minnesota.
Artist Statement
Artist Statement
My inspiration comes from heritage, which I use to my create surface designs. The processes I use for creating work are laborious. Starting by researching textiles and art relevant to the project at hand. I use porcelain in combination with velvet jet-black underglaze. The jet-black underglaze creates a contrast between form and decoration. Instead of painting the designs onto my pots, I prefer to use sgraffito to carve the designs into place. I believe this adds more dimension to my work. This process of research, transfer, and alteration allows me to individualize each design. Then to accentuate the value of each piece a gold luster is added to the edge and rim.
When viewing my work, the viewer sees sophistication and elegance, then while looking deeper they see that it is a self-portrait… the intertwining of family through generations…just as the United States has resulted in the intersection of cultures, as my own ancestry has come together to create who I am as a person and artist.
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