Puneeta Mittal ( she/her )

With a strong belief that everything that is born, grows and withers away to be yet born again – incessant change from one to other proceeds in an evolutionary cycle – I chose not to be limited to a small corner space that defines who I am and what I must make.

The ceramic sculptures I make are simplified in form. The firing process with or without glazes is used create the surface that is an imagined space and through them I build landscape and terrain. I continually draw inspiration from the natural world and a combination of Eastern and Western techniques and aesthetics.

Be it the painterly application of glazes or response to the fire and ash on clay body, it acts as a dynamic, visual counterpoint to the meticulously crafted shapes. My personal affinity towards using clay, as an appropriate medium is best expressed in Takaezu’s words, “One of the best things about clay is that I can be completely free and honest with it. And clay responds to me. The clay is alive and even when it is dry, it is still breathing! I can feel the response in my hands, and I don’t have to force the clay. The whole process is an interplay between clay and me and often clay has much to say”.

At the heart of it, my forms are simple and format modular to express complex ideas in an abstract minimalistic way. The simplicity of shape does not necessarily mean simplicity of an idea. I enjoy working and exploring the extreme realms of art as an expression and as a viable commodity. As an artist, I have always aspired to challenge and be challenged, inspire and be inspired, feel the passion to create a response to what I see hear, touch, smell, and taste. The material is merely a vehicle to facilitate this expression. To quote Dalai Lama, " Within the seed of the cause of events is the seed for their cessation and disintegration

Puneeta Mittal was born and educated in India. She earned a master’s degree in Hindi Literature at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, a premier institute for graduate studies in Arts and Sciences in New Delhi. Her teaching career began at the J. Krishnamurti Foundation Boarding School in India. After moving to the United States in 1994, Puneeta found her passion for clay and focused on exploring clay forms under the guidance and motivation of Betty Busby of “The Clayroom Studio” studio in fall of 1995. Puneeta successfully started and enriched ceramics programs for summer camps and taught at “The Clayroom Studio” for 10 years. In 2004, Puneeta was nominated as a board member of the Art League of Long Island and the Long Island Craft Guild. In her early years of residency in New York, She started to work as a visiting artist to create cultural awareness with Huntington Arts Council’s Journey through art program. Puneeta continued to be actively involved in planning and organizing national conferences pertaining to ceramics and the integration of the Arts and Sciences.A quintessential desire to learn and grow directed her to obtain a formal education in Art.While continuing her art education at Adelphi, in year 2005 she was invited to teach at the University. She graduated with an MA in Studio art from Adelphi University in 2006 and wenton to complete her MFA in Long Island University at the C.W. Post campus in the summer of2008. Owing to her extensively varied experience in field of ceramic education, Puneeta has been invited to develop ceramics programs with NFP organizations and teaches a wheel thrown ceramics class at Brickhouse Ceramic Art Center in Long Island City, NY. Her passion for ceramic art and education led her to be an associate adjunct professor of art at Suffolk County Community College (SUNY) and Queens College (CUNY). She practices her own art and has participated in various shows on Long Island and Manhattan where she continues to sell her work with support from institutional and private art patrons and collectors. Currently, Puneeta creates sculptural forms and functional art in clay,experiments using mixed media and paints, making an enchanting array of original pieces. The intimate influences of her rich heritage and culture can be seen in her work today. With a strong belief that everything that is born, grows and withers away to be yet born again –incessant change from one to other proceeds in an evolutionary cycle – I chose not to be limited to a small corner space that defines who I am and what I must make.