Mat Wheeler obtained his BFA from Northern Arizona University and his MFA from Indiana University. His practice is based primarily in making pottery. Working with persistent pottery forms seen throughout many cultures and times he incorporates formal abstractions that emphasize the anthropomorphic language used to describe pottery.

Mat is currently working as an adjunct faculty, ceramic technician and visiting artist at Eastern Tennessee State University. His current research is focused on iron glazes in reduction cooled soda firings.

“The work I create grows from ceramic history and persistent forms found within. These forms seem to transcend time and culture, continually being reproduced. To me these pottery forms are archetypal. I find endless inspiration therein due to their resolution of form, which seem to have reached a pinnacle. Within my practice I use these archetypal forms as a foundation from which to explore from. I manipulate extensions and components to discover new relationships and convey new meanings. These formal choices evoke bodies, landscapes, architecture, and express the idiosyncrasies of clay. This creative process is intuitive and abstract. I root my work within the tradition of pottery because I am a potter. As an artist I seek to discover newfound ways of expression.”