"Crowing at the Moon" by Michael Gustavson, Large Raku Ceramic Totem Sculpture on Stone Base, Contemporary California Art, Vibrant Colors

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Two ceramic forms stacked on a stone base, rising together to nearly six feet. The surface moves through bold, painterly … Read more Two ceramic forms stacked on a stone base, rising together to nearly six feet. The surface moves through bold, painterly sections of orange, teal, red, olive, gold, and crackled white, with large circular forms and sweeping arcs building upward with real chromatic energy. A ceramic crow sits perched at the very top, its dark form crowning the composition with a quiet, watchful presence that gives the piece its name and its soul. The combination of the abstract painted surface and the figurative crow at the summit creates a tension that is both poetic and visually arresting. This totem works powerfully as a freestanding sculpture in a large living room, a double-height entry, a hotel lobby, or an outdoor garden or courtyard, where its scale, colour, and the crow's commanding silhouette make it an immediate and unforgettable focal point. A rare and significant work by one of California's most celebrated ceramic sculptors.

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. This highly individual studio-developed method allows him to work at significant scale and achieve exceptional chromatic depth and painterly nuance. 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