Shaping Memory: Chris Gustin and Nancy Train Smith is on view at Sculpture Space NYC, New York
October 30 – December 12, 2026
Sculpture Space NYC – Center for Ceramic Arts is pleased to present “Shaping Memory”, a two -person exhibition featuring the work of Chris Gustin and Nancy Train Smith. Shaping Memory reflects on a decades long husband and wife artistic conversation. Nancy will be exhibiting wall-based work and Chris a series of large -scale ceramic sculptures, many fired in his wood-fired Anagama kiln. They share a studio in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts.
Nancy Train Smith has a fine-arts background as a painter, installation artist and ceramic sculptor. This body of work at SSNYC-CCA reflects the shifts she has had to make recently, dealing with age related macular degeneration, which has demanded that she proceed with a more touch based, haptic sensibility. Of this shift Nancy states, “At the beginning of 2023, I reentered the ceramic studio after a six-month hiatus, during which time I was adjusting to a significant change to my eyesight. I began with some trepidation, unsure of what I could do, and knowing I could not work in the same way I had. Trepidation gave way quickly to excitement as I experimented with new ways of handling clay. Using my fingers to help me “see” and an immediate, collage-like approach, I have gained a sense of freedom unimagined in my earlier work. Initial bodies of work were abstract, though based on observation of the natural world in which I live. This year, newer work has coalesced around themes of generosity and abundance. My work has always had subtexts having to do with my worries about larger issues, and this body of work stands in opposition to the cruelty, selfishness, and stinginess of the world we seem to be living in now”.
Nancy Train Smith’s recent work evokes sensuous, fecund and primordial aspects of the natural world, and follows in the lineage of master ceramic sculptors Luca Della Robbia and Bernard Palissey.
Chris Gustin has been an influential figure in the contemporary ceramics field for fifty years. His work has been exhibited and collected internationally, and he is a respected teacher and an articulate voice. Of the work exhibited at SSNYC-CCA Gustin states, “I hope to evoke numerous memories, recollections that have the potential to change from moment to moment, provoking connections that go past the intellectual to the innate…..The human figure became a source to explore, a way to speak of emotional connection and experience. My work has moved in numerous directions but has always come back to the figure as an elemental source of reference. Forms became more complex, scale grew, and in the most recent years moved toward a quieter distillation of form, shape and surface. By using forms that evoke humility, generosity, sensuality and fullness, I am asking the viewer to seek connections on a deeply personal level.”
Chris Gustin’s work is collected in many major museums, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Art & Design, New York, The Renwick Gallery of the Museum of American Art, the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC; LA County Museum of Art, CA; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY; Detroit Museum of Art, MI; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC; Newark Museum of Art, NJ; Shiwan Treasure Pottery Museum, P.R. China; Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Japan; Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK; Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taipei, Taiwan; and Icheon World Ceramic Center, Icheon, Korea.
Chris Gustin is being shown courtesy of Donzella, LTD, New York.
Sculpture Space NYC–Center for Ceramic Art is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization run by artists, dedicated to providing vital resources and support for creators working in three-dimensional media, with a primary focus on ceramic arts. We foster creative development and community through dynamic curatorial programming, artist-in residence opportunities, and open calls for innovative workshop proposals led by educators.
Contact
info@sculpturespacenyc.com
Sculpture Space NYC – Center for Ceramic Arts
47-21 35th Street
Long Island City, NY 11101
United States
Photos courtesy of the gallery
