Margaret Bohls
Artist and Style
Margaret Bohls makes hand-built pottery and vessel forms that she shows and sells both locally and nationally. She received a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design in 1989 and an MFA from Louisiana State University in 1995. Bohls has been teaching ceramics at the collegiate level for over
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twenty-five years. She is currently an Associate Professor of Art at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She previously taught at the University of Minnesota from 1998 to 2011 and has taught as visiting faculty at Ohio University, Penn State University, and NSCAD University in Halifax. She has given lectures at universities across the U.S. and taught hands-on workshops at art centers such as Arrowmont School of Art and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Greenwich House Pottery in New York, Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Aspen, Colorado, and Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. Bohls’ work has been shown in over 100 group and solo exhibitions since 1995 and is included in the permanent collections of the Everson Museum in Syracuse, The Weisman Museum and the Minnesota Museum of American Art in the Twin Cities, the American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA), and in the Sonny and Gloria Kamm Teapot Foundation Collection. She has written articles for the Journal of the National Council for Education on Ceramic Arts, Ceramics Monthly, Pottery Making Illustrated, and Studio Potter Journal.
Artist Statement: The pieces I create are visual and sculptural objects. I conceive of each body of work with a particular set of formal goals in mind. The contours, volumes, colors, and surfaces of the objects I create compose a dimensional image. Volume is a key element in utilitarian forms as it defines the potential for containment. The visual evidence and the physical quality of this volume is important to the way my work communicates formally, whether the volume is expansive and taut or soft and weighted. I think of the outlines and edges of the work as drawn lines. I choose and manipulate the softness, weight, and speed of these lines. Edges and lines either define or interact with the volume of the forms. Surfaces, whether they are visually complex or minimal, are chosen in part based on how they respond to and enhance form and line. I observe and enhance the visual and physical relationships between two or more forms when they meet in a pair or grouping.
Utility is often a primary concern. The audience’s real or implied interaction with my work provides not only its context, but also much of its content. The immediate context of this work is, of course, the home. The larger context of the work lies within the long history of the decorative arts and the field of craft. The kind of visual and physical interaction we have with domestic objects, and our attention to and understanding of these objects, is quite different than what occurs in a museum or gallery. I craft my work, paying studied attention to the weight and texture of each piece. I anticipate that the work will be held, carried, and poured from; lids will be lifted and replaced. Details are important. My more elaborate forms are designed to require care and attention when used, the simpler ware is designed for a less conscious interaction. (Full statement available: https://www.margaretbohls.com/artist-statement)
