Kevin Snipes

1963 Born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

EDUCATION

1994 BFA Ceramics and Drawing, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

2000-2003 Graduate Studies, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida

APPRENTICESHIPS AND RESIDENCIES

2003-2004 Artist in Residence, Marie P. Cowen Fellowship, Worcester Center for Crafts, Worcester, Massachusetts

2005 Clay Studio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

2008 Taunt Fellowship, Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Helena, Montana

2011 Northern Clay Center, McKnight Residency, Minneapolis, Minnesota

—Artist in Residence, Vallauris, France

—Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, New Castle, Maine

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

—Studio Potte

BIOGRAPHY
Kevin Snipes is known for procelain thrown and handbuilt vessels that are finished with carefully drawn narratives. Snipes' obsession with building things began when he was a child as did his need to draw. The combined need to build and draw are the basis for his work in clay. He is a storyteller who has chosen to tell his stories on the sides of his unconventional slab built porcelain forms. These pieces begin with sketches of forms he designs to accommodate the drawings he has planned for them. Snipes’ line art drawings are reminiscent of comic book art often complete with word balloons. The stories he chooses to tell are based on movies, music, photography, street art, and the daily life that surrounds him. In addition to underglazes he also draws some of his images using the mishima technique (inlaying the pattern with slip, glaze or contrasting clay body into the surface) or the sgraffito technique (incising the design through one or two layers of slip or directly into the clay body).