Eric Ordway ( He/Him )

My pottery derives its forms from historical Scandinavian folk-arts and the story of a 150-year-old family farm. Born into a family of Norwegian farmers who immigrated to the United States in 1856, I echo the tradition of my great-grandparent’s handmade craft-objects, through researching Norwegian ale bowls. In probing Viking-era burial sites like the Oseberg Mound, I rediscovered my ancestry separately from family stories steeped in dogma. By sculpting finials of mythological creatures, I touch upon how ancestral homelands are both myth and reality for American descendants of immigrants. Just as I grew up with Viking lore, I counter the myths in my upbringing by embracing my forebears as farmers. As my hands feel, pinch, turn, lift, and heft the soft clay, I contemplate my ancestors toiling with their hands in the earth, in wood, and in stone. My forms echo the rich practice of working the land, manifesting as soft-formed clay walls reminiscent of rolling hills. Vertical carved ridges, akin to plow-scraped fields, meet with gentle wave-like rims. Working with a kick wheel, I capture the rhythmic movement juxtaposed by sharp vertical textures. With this artistic labor, I take part in my family’s legacy of hard work and storytelling, uniting the farmer and the academic at a common table: the glorious can be found in the mundane, and the divine in the common.

Eric Ordway was born and raised in the middle of corn and soybean fields near Columbia, MO. He was first exposed to pottery while attending school at Moberly Area Community College in 2006. Eric continued to study clay at Colorado State University-Pueblo. After graduating with his BFA in 2013, Eric began working as a post-baccalaureate student at the University of Missouri (MU). While there, he made high-atmospheric (2350ºF), soda-fired pottery while researching green glazing and sgraffito techniques.

In 2015, Eric was awarded a residency at the Morean Center for Clay in St. Petersburg, FL, where he researched firing wood kilns of various designs. During this time, Eric also taught ceramics to high school students at Berkeley Preparatory School, where he discovered his passion for teaching. Eric then returned to MU to earn his MFA in 2019, where he made functional and sculptural vessels using thrown and altered techniques that he continues in his artistic practice.

After graduating, Eric taught ceramics at Truman State University for three years. During this time, he also worked at Access Arts, a local nonprofit art organization in Columbia, MO, as the Department Head of Ceramics. Eric exhibits his work at the national and international levels. Some of his most recent accomplishments include being selected as a 2023 Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist, exhibiting his work at the 2023 & 2024 NCECA Annual Exhibitions, and the 2024 International Ceramics Competition in Carouge, Switzerland. Eric has also been a Technical Assistant at Penland School of Craft and Haystack Mountain School of Craft. 

Eric currently works at the University of Missouri’s School of Visual Studies as the Fine Arts Technician & an Adjunct Professor. Eric lives in Columbia, MO with his wife, Chelseá, and their dog, Lily.