SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Nathan Goddard, adjunct professor of studio art at Wofford College, has been shaping his role as an emerging artist in the Upstate region. In the three years he has lived here, he has become noted for his ceramics course at Wofford as well as the art he creates when he is not on campus.
Goddard recently showed some of his ceramic at the “Interpretations in Clay” exhibition at Lander University in Greenwood, S.C. The exhibition showcased a range of ceramics from 15 local artists and art faculty. Goddard represented Wofford.
For the works in that show, Goddard showcased the techniques of wheel-throwing and wood-firing. “When you put it in the kiln, you get this flame and ash creating this natural glaze,” says Goddard. The work is fired for three days creating a form that’s a product of both humans and nature.
The merging of the natural and the man-made is a fascinating contrast, Goddard says, and it has become a common theme in his work. Ceramics has remained his preferred medium for capturing the contrast because of its versatility. “The wheel is a tool you can always kind of learn,” he says.
Goddard received his undergraduate degree in painting and drawing, and he still works with these media. A recent solo show at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, S.C, featured his “earth paintings,” showcasing how earth from the ground can be an artistic medium. He also has work displayed in the Teabowl National, a juried show in the Kansas City Clay Guild in Kansas City, Missouri. “I try to focus regionally, but as an artist, you always want to be looking outward.”
To see more work from Nathan Goddard and his students, visit nathangoddard.com.