Michael Gustavson "Across the Water Triptych" Raku Ceramic, Large Abstract Wall Sculpture in Sage Green, Carmel California Art, 2025

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In this large abstract wall sculpture of raku-fired ceramic by California artist Michael Gustavson, three torn-edged slabs of glazed clay … Read more In this large abstract wall sculpture of raku-fired ceramic by California artist Michael Gustavson, three torn-edged slabs of glazed clay float on the wall like islands seen from the air. One is a splash of yellow and olive scored with a black comb-like mark, another is cobalt and teal with a marbled green vein, and the third is a quiet mix of sage, rust and navy. Orange arcs and small turquoise discs link them in color, and the broken outlines leave irregular gaps between the pieces. Gustavson makes his wall works from fragmented slabs, and the empty spaces between them are part of the composition. The fired surfaces move from glossy to crackled to matte, so light plays across the group as it changes during the day.

Spread across a wall, this group suits a dining room, a kitchen with stone counters, a stairwell or a long sofa wall. Sage, teal and orange pair with olive upholstery, black fixtures, walnut and plaster. The sage and teal also suit a room that looks out on a garden, where the colors echo the foliage.

Raku-fired glazed ceramic, 48 x 54 in (121.9 x 137.2 cm), three separate pieces, overall arrangement.

Gustavson's wall works are composed of fragmented slabs of clay, grouped as diptychs, triptychs or larger sets, so that the negative space between the pieces becomes part of the composition. The slabs are glazed like paintings and raku-fired, using the firing approach he has refined over decades, with pine needles introduced at lower temperatures to create reduction. Crackle, drips and drawn lines add depth to each torn-edged surface.

Michael Gustavson is a ceramic artist based in Murphys, California, who has worked in clay for more than four decades. He earned his MFA from San Jose State University in 1980 and describes himself as a painter-sculptor, treating each form as a three-dimensional canvas and glaze as his paint. His work is held in private and public collections worldwide, including IBM, Kaiser Permanente, Seagate, Cranbrook Museum and Eastman Kodak.

Building on the traditional Japanese process of raku, he developed his own firing approach, leaving large pieces in the kiln and introducing pine needles at lower temperatures to create reduction. The method allows larger scale and unusually vivid color. His wheel-thrown, hand-stretched vessels suggest the figure in motion, his wall reliefs use fragmented slabs and negative space, and recent outdoor sculptures and benches carry his surfaces into tectonic forms, with nods to Miró, Kandinsky, Mondrian and Pollock. See less