I have had a lifelong curiosity about what is going on inside of things. From mechanical objects to found animal specimens, I sought to investigate their interiors and reveal the inside of things.
For the last 4 decades I have constructed abstract figure sculptures of clay and combined found elements to convey my interest in the natural and built world. I am a curious observer of parallels in human and animal behavior. Coyotes and Crows, mate for life, as I have, and we share our wooded neighborhood with multiple generations of bonded animal families.
My human and animal figures are constructed from extruded clay sticks and thrown pots assembled to create complex interior spaces that have structural relevance and supportive content within the internal form.The tension between the viewers recognition of the subject balanced against their chaotic interior is a recurring theme in my sculpture.
Since my retirement from 40 years of teaching Art at the College of Marin, I have continued to explore my potential for creativity through classes in Music, Digital Fabrication, Welded Steel, Fused and cast Glass, and Bronze casting.
Bill Abright is an artist living and working in San Anselmo, CA. He was introduced to clay at Delta College in Stockton in the late 60’s. He went on to complete his graduate degree in ceramics at San Francisco State in 1974.
Abright taught drawing, design and ceramics at the College of Marin from 1975 until his retirement in 2015 and has been influential in the lives of many artists.
He has exhibited throughout the U.S. and has work in numerous private and museum collections including the Oakland Museum of California, and the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Bill has shared a San Anselmo home and studio for 54 years with his wife and fellow ceramist Claudia Tarantino. They have two adult sons who are also artists, Oben Abright, a sculptor in glass and Guston Abright, a painter.
Watercolor, Drawing, Ceramics, Sculpture, Glass
