Rod Dugal – 2020 Brinton 101

Rod Dugal was born in 1968 in Houma, Louisiana.  After working a few years on oil drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics from Louisiana State University.  In an attempt to escape the oppressive heat and humidity of the south, he traveled north to receive his Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.  He has held teaching positions at the Vermont State Craft Center at Frog Hollow, Middlebury College, State University of New York at Plattsburgh, and The University of Notre Dame.  He and his family moved to Sheridan, WY in 2005 where he has been teaching at Sheridan College. He is married to Dimitra Dugal and they have three sons, Brendan, Addison, and Eli.

“My work is a continuum of the long history of vessel making and is concerned with how the pieces are perceived in space and time.  As a potter and artist, I am looking at not only the sensual experience of consumption as it pertains to sustenance but also in how spaces and forms we surround ourselves with help to shape our perception of who we are.

When I work I am most involved with ideas of containment and structure.  How a form holds and presents its contents to its audience is very important.  The forms I am drawn to have the simplicity and utility of Oriental pots, like Korean Ido Ware and the Japanese Tamba and Iga wares.  More recently I have been looking at the relationships of natural and architectural forms as a source.  I look at the organic side of these forms and the inherent natural geometry contained within it.  I am driven by this sense of structure in how I divide the forms I use in constructing the pots.  The work strives to create beautiful form used to elevate the rituals of daily living.

In my current body of work, I have moved to using atmospheric firings such as soda and wood kilns to connect with local materials and processes.   The classic beauty of these processes require a technical mastery and creates questions that can only be answered by simplicity and honesty.”   Rod Dugal