Samantha Briegel ( she/her )

My work reclaims the identity of clothing textures and patterns. The body and the vessel share a similar vocabulary of lips, shoulders, bellies, and feet. I use this comparison to clothe implied bodies. As functional pottery, these works demand interactions through use. Akin to our clothing, these interactions also make us aware of our bodies. What happens to the clothes that we love but can never wear again? These articles contribute to our identities. What happens when our clothes no longer comfort us? As a female potter, I am offering a reclaimed comfort that delivers nourishment, tactile moments, and conversation.

Sam Briegel grew up in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in Knoxville, TN. She received her BFA in Three-Dimensional Arts from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 2013 where she predominantly focused on ceramics. Following that, Briegel completed an internship at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts Clay Business in Helena, Montana. She went on to receive a post-baccalaureate program from the University of Montana in 2015 and began graduate school the following year. Briegel was awarded her Masters of Fine Arts in Ceramics from Ohio University in 2018 and after graduating found herself in the Nation’s Capital completing a year-long residency at District Clay Center in Washington, DC. Briegel moved to Baltimore following her DCC residency to complete a residency at Baltimore Clayworks as their Lormina Salter Fellow. In the Spring of 2020, she was a part-time faculty member at Maryland Institute College of Art and continues to adjunct in the ceramics department and in their foundations program. Briegel was a participating artist in the 2020 and 2021 Virtual Smithsonian Craft Show and recently participated in the in-person event in 2022. She has given workshops on her unique process and been a visiting artist across the country. She currently works out of her home studio at her farmhouse outside of Baltimore, Maryland.