Charles "Chuck" Hindes

Chuck Hindes creates ceramics that display the indelible marks of their making. Both sculptural and functional, they explore his interest in the Japanese aesthetic of beauty and Abstract Expressionism. The asymmetry and irregularity speak to both influences and is developed as he hand forms each of his works of art. His construction uses the natural malleable quality of the clay, which is expressed in the final fired form. The use of both saggar and wood firing produce the unique variation of color, which enhances the irregularities and imperfections found in the form. Hindes has a B.F.A. from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and a M.F.A from the Rhode Island School of Design. He taught ceramics at the University of Iowa for 34 years and had a large impact on the field of craft ceramics in Iowa and nationally. As a master craftsman, he has been a visiting artist at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina and the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. He has received several grants including a Craftsman Fellowship from the NEA and a grant from the Archie Bray Foundation, one of the most significant supporters of ceramic arts in America. He has given numerous workshops and lectures on his construction and firing techniques and his art has been in many exhibitions throughout the United States. Hindes is also included in the Smithsonian American Art collection, the preeminent collection of craft in this country. As a member of a burgeoning studio pottery movement in America, Chuck Hindes helped to further develop the art of ceramics of Iowa nationally with his own art and through his influence on his many students.