Bensenville
Host: Carly Connelly and Levi Yastrow in the backyard of their home & studio
Carly Connelly is a nonbinary artist whose work is created in response to their profession as a floral designer, their curiosity surrounding death, and their interest in identity and gender. Their work is soda fired which relinquishes control to the atmosphere causing one of a kind surfaces and an earth toned color palette.
Levi Yastrow is a potter and teacher from the Chicago Suburbs. He makes functional soda and wood fired tableware inspired by his kinetic connection to clay and the world around him. Levi is a teaching artist at Lillstreet in Chicago and it the Art Studios Lab Technician at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Nishi’s style is based on the simplicity and functionality of Japanese pottery, using natural materials and colors typical in nature. He believes that pottery should not be the center of attention on the dinner table--it should be simple and attractive, while discreetly adding to the delicious appearance of the food. He strives to create pottery that resonates with me and brings out my inner peace.
Amber Frances is a non binary potter working and living in Chicago. They have been teaching and making ceramics all over the US from California and Arizona to North Carolina and Maine, and Chicago. They are curious about the world and all the things in it, and they use clay as a medium to make functional ware that reflects on the ordinary beauty of everyday objects.
Tatyana is an avid hiker, and pulls images of nature into her work, finding inspiration in the ordinary. Tatyana draws her images on rice paper. She then applies them to her wares with slips, incorporating underglazes and mason stains for coloring.
Sydnie’s work centers around the representation and humanization of black and brown youth in an American context. She illustrates in clay self-expression as a form of protest and self care to protect against a Eurocentric society founded on white supremacy and colonization.