"Gemstones" by Michael Gustavson, Raku Ceramic Functional Bench Sculpture, Deep Red Black and Jewel Tones, Contemporary California Art, Vibrant Colors

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Substantial and jewel-like, this ceramic bench carries deep reds and blacks across its ground, with rounded areas of green, cream, … Read more Substantial and jewel-like, this ceramic bench carries deep reds and blacks across its ground, with rounded areas of green, cream, and earth tones sitting across the surface like polished stones set into the clay. Gustavson's reduction firing gives the colour a quality that seems to come from within the surface rather than sitting on top of it, a result of the pine needle reduction method developed and refined over decades. This is his process at its most tactile and jewel-like, a surface that rewards close looking. Equally at home indoors and outdoors, this bench works beautifully in a living room, entryway, or hallway, and just as naturally on a terrace, in a garden, or alongside a pool, where its deep jewel tones and bold dark ground hold their own against stone, wood, and open sky. Fully functional as seating and an exceptional work of art.

Michael Gustavson is a California-based ceramic artist who builds upon the traditional Japanese process of raku, reimagining it through a distinctly contemporary and highly personal methodology. His work bridges free-form organic sculpture and painterly abstraction, distinguished by unusually vivid, luminous color rarely achieved in ceramic sculpture. Central to his practice is a firing approach developed and refined over decades, introducing pine needles at lower temperatures to create a reduction atmosphere while pieces remain inside the kiln. Describing himself as a painter-sculptor, he treats each form as a three-dimensional canvas built through layered glazes, textures, and color interactions. Inspired by Miro, Picasso, Kandinsky, Mondrian, and Pollock, his surfaces often feature controlled dripping and expressive movement, translating the energy of abstract painting into fired clay. Gustavson earned his MFA from San Jose State University in 1980. His work is held in major public and private collections worldwide, including IBM, Kaiser Permanente, Seagate, Cranbrook Museum, Eastman Kodak, the Bel-Air Hotel, ANA Hotel Tokyo, and private collectors including Goldie Hawn and Dr. Linus Pauling. See less