Zak Helenske

I am a potter who is interested in the exploration of form and the development of pattern. I look to industrial and architectural situations for formal references and social observations for conceptual connections. The history of human progression is a relentless record of pattern. My pots are both a response and resistance to this predictability.

Made of a gritty terra cotta with porcelain brushwork on their surface, my pottery is fired to cone 2. I pay attention to the formless structures within the making process and attempt to harness them with a direct approach to material. A clear glaze captures the depth of these layers and highlights their nuances. I finish the pots by sand blasting the sheen away, retaining the dimension in their surface while softening them to the eye and hand.

Pots are a part of our domestic infrastructure, facilitating rituals of beauty, nourishment, and gathering. I am interested in the history these objects carry and the sentiment gained from their usefulness. I am charmed by the anti-monumental, and challenged by the spatial balance between pottery, architecture, and community.

— Zak Helenske

Zak Helenske was born and raised in Fargo, ND. There, he earned his BFA in Ceramics at North Dakota State University in 2009. Completing his MFA in Ceramics and Ceramic Sculpture at Rochester Institute of Technology’s School for American Crafts in 2014 led him to an art practice that crosses disciplines. Zak has been a visiting artist nationally at University of South Carolina, McNeese State University, University of Washington, and internationally at Akademia Sztuk Peinknych in Gdansk, Poland. He has taught at University of Washington, 3D4M and Rochester Institute of Technology, School for American Crafts.

Now, an Artist in Residence at Pottery Northwest in Seattle, WA, Zak is developing a functional body of work that is informed by his sculptural concepts. He works in several media, building upon his material sensibility in order to stay spontaneous and impulsive. Living in a city in the middle of a major progression, he finds constant visual stimulation in the activities of construction and growth.