January 10–23, 2027
Chris Edwards, Quilt Pattern Nerikomi Cups 2026, colored clay, 5x3x3 in
Nerikomi & Colored Clay Lab
with Christopher Edwards and Rachel Niffenegger
Explore the expressive possibilities of colored clay through nerikomi, the Japanese technique of creating patterns by layering, stacking, slicing, and recombining colored clay bodies. Students will learn to tint clay using raw ceramic pigments and stains before developing their own palette of colored clays. Demonstrations include clay coloring and testing, pattern development, lamination, cane construction, marbling, slab building, wheel throwing, trimming, and finishing techniques that preserve crisp pattern definition while integrating color into the ceramic form itself. Through lectures, critiques, and demonstrations, students will examine historical and contemporary approaches to colored clay, considering pattern, process, and material as inseparable elements of ceramic practice. Artists discussed may include Dean McRaine, Victoria Rickson, Yukiko Takahashi, and Dorothy Feibleman in addition to other contemporary practitioners working with nerikomi and agateware traditions. Students will read selected excerpts from Nerikomi: The Art of Colored Clay by Thomas Hoadley and Vitamin C: Clay and Ceramic in Contemporary Art in addition to other contemporary writings on colored clay, and view documentary footage featuring ceramic artists whose practices center on pattern and material experimentation. Students will begin by creating a personal library of colored clay bodies and pattern samples through a series of structured material experiments. Subsequent assignments will investigate techniques for translating patterned clay into functional and sculptural forms while refining craftsmanship and color relationships. The final project will be a cohesive body of ceramic work that demonstrates technical proficiency with colored clay and a personal approach to nerikomi.
Pricing Information: Tuition & Fees; $250 lab fee
Registration Information: Monday, November 16, 2026
SAIC/For Credit Course Code: CERAMICS 675 001 | 3 credits
About the faculty artist
Chris Edwards (he/him) is an artist and licensed clinical social worker. In his artistic practice, he works primarily in quilting and ceramics, creating odes to small, important things. His quilting and pottery intersect through a shared language of pattern-making, and images of his pottery show up in his quilts. He has taught variations of the class Soft Compositions with Lauren Gregory at Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency since 2022. He lives in Chicago with his husband, dog, and two cats. He has exhibited work at Roundabouts Now (Kingston, NY), McLean County Arts Center (Bloomington, IL), Western Exhibitions (Chicago, IL), Ox-Bow House (Saugatuck, MI), Wrong Marfa (Marfa, TX), Elephant Gallery (Nashville, TN), Adds Donna (Chicago, IL), Tusk (Chicago, IL), LVL3 (Chicago, IL), Oggi Gallery (Chicago, IL), Dreamboat (Chicago, IL), and Julius Caesar (Chicago, IL) and has an upcoming show at the Sarasota Arts Center. He received his MFA in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011 and his Master of Social Work from the University of Iowa in 2014.
Rachel Niffenegger’s (she/her) interior psychological portraits appear from an evolving archive of visions conjured and scrambled in concert with chance based processes and generative technology. These wraiths are pulled from the folds of psychedelic clay, spiraled through mirrored metal work and suspended amongst haunted objects. Niffenegger’s work has been included in museum shows at the Museum for Modern Art in Arnhem, the Netherlands; the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; and in gallery shows in New York, Berlin, Chicago, Liverpool, Denver, and Milwaukee, among others. Niffenegger, born in Evanston in 1985, received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, her MFA from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and attended De Ateliers in Amsterdam, NL. Amongst honors from Chicago Magazine and New City she was awarded The Meier Achievement award in 2023. Rachel was a Fellow in 2008 at Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency and has been a faculty member at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago since 2015. She is represented by Western Exhibitions in Chicago and lives and works in Chicago.
Rachel Niffenegger, Spectral Shell I, 2025, glazed pigmented porcelain, 6.5x5x2 inches