Visiting Cody Hoyt

The highlight of this week was my group visit to the Brooklyn-based studio of Cody Hoyt. As an artist, Hoyt perceives ceramics as a medium in creating his personal art, participating in the new Renaissance, in which contemporary artists are shaping a new future for ceramics. His vessels, whether in the form of cubist sculptures or thrown on the wheel, are all veneered in colorful clay, inlaid in various flat patterns, as testimony to his background as an illustrator and a graphic artist. The richness and brilliance of the surfaces reminding me of early Byzantine mosaics, as delicate, precious, and lush as silk brocade. Once visiting the studio and being introduced to the complexity of Hoyt’s technique and experimentation, you can fully comprehend the process and labor behind each one of his vessels. Mixing, slicing, sanding, firing, all in the most unconventional methods, resulted of his eternal quest to refine his art. I particularly loved the pieces that are decorated with what looks like abstract paintings (below). Thank you, Cody Hoyt for opening your studio and speak candidly about the physics, poetic, and business aspects of your daily work at the studio. I am looking forward to your next solo show at Patrick Parrish Gallery (open March, 2019).