"Time Alone" by Michael Gustavson, Raku Ceramic Functional Bench Sculpture, Navy Teal Red & Orange Glaze, Contemporary California Art, Vibrant Colors

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This bench organises its surface into bold stacked sections of colour, navy, teal, red, orange, yellow, and crackled white, arranged … Read more This bench organises its surface into bold stacked sections of colour, navy, teal, red, orange, yellow, and crackled white, arranged with a grid-like clarity. A large pale circle with splattered marks drawn through it appears near the top, connecting directly to Gustavson's admiration for Pollock. The raku process treats each colour area a little differently, some surfaces smooth and saturated, others with a crackle that catches and diffuses light. It works beautifully indoors in a living room, studio, or entryway, and just as well outdoors on a terrace, in a garden, or along a covered walkway where its graphic, structured palette brings a strong artistic presence to the setting.

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