Biography

Madeline (Maddie) Gage is a ceramic artist and potter from Concord, Massachusetts. She began her work in clay as a freshman in high school, committing to pursuing a career in ceramics by her senior year. She graduated from Syracuse University in 2024, receiving her B.F.A. in Studio Arts with a concentration in ceramics. Maddie has attended several community studios as both a student and an intern, including the Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis, Massachusetts, and at Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill in Truro, Massachusetts. She currently works as an intern at the Umbrella Arts Center in Concord, Massachusetts. Additionally, Maddie teaches pottery classes at Indigo Fire in Watertown and youth clay classes at the Umbrella Arts Center in Concord.

Artist Statement

I have an inexplicable stamina for ceramics. My ceramics practice is defined by an organized persistence that strives for subtle evolution with each iteration. As a chronically distractible woman whose type B personality has a stronghold on most facets in my life, clay activates a methodical preciseness within me that is devoted to my obsession with making. A rigorous pursuit for more complexity, stronger craftsmanship, and a deep connection with the user of my work is the primary driver behind my practice. 

My work is born out of both meticulous planning and creative intuition. I have countless sketchbooks filled with carefully thought out designs, however, a stronger force in my creative output is the process of drawing rough guidelines on a piece and working from top to bottom. Several sources of inspiration inform my approach to surface design, namely ornate headstones and antique metalwares such as mirrors, silverware, and jewelry. As my approach has grown more intricate, tactility has become the most valuable aspect of my current body of work. Although my initial exploration into leather hard surface decoration was rooted in visual appeal and an attempt to find my “style”, I have grown to see how much the user values the relationship between my work and their senses. Through additive and subtractive processes, I delve into building up surfaces through soft altering and slip trailing, while using trimming, carving, and line weight variation to work subtractively, resulting in complex, layered pieces that make up my signature aesthetic. 

As a maker with deep roots in my wheel throwing practice for nearly my entire artistic education and career, the aspect of functionality and purpose plays a massive role in my fascination with pots as my canvas. With creating pots comes a sense of purpose: my pots, by nature, contain other things. Things that are probably mundane, but can be served with pomp and flair. Bringing unnecessarily intricate and uniquely intimate pieces into the world to make the mundane romantic epitomizes my current and foreseeable purpose as a creative.

Contact: maddiegageclay22@gmail.com

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