The impulse to decorate is strong. The push to create a border or impose a structured order on the already beautiful order of the (chaotic) natural world is compelling. Humans have always done so.
My work draws from and responds to visual idioms found throughout human history. Visual languages flow from culture to culture and through time; I explore how the changes of motifs and technologies show development and transformation in societies. I draw from our species’ long and intimate relationship with our surroundings, both natural and man-made. To that end, I use a variety of mostly found and repurposed clays to refer to both the contributions of previous makers in our collective art history and the stratigraphy of the Earth. My work is influenced by geology, industry and the commonality of human experience through time and across culture.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Patricia Sannit received her BA in ceramics, Art History and Norwegian from the University of Minnesota and her MFA from the California College of Arts. She now lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Sannit’s work is influenced by her experiences excavating in the Near East and Ethiopia. Sannit’s most recent project is a large-scale ceramic installation, Citadel, based on an archeological site in Iraq. “I am interested in the story of the earth, our species, and pots. History is manifest in the scarred and worn surface of our planet and in a pot well made and well used.”
EDUCATION
1987 M.F.A. with High Distinction, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, California
1985 B.A., Fine Arts, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
1984 B.A., Art History and Scandinavian Studies, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
1980 Certificate in Ceramics, Agder Folkehøgskole, Norway
1979 Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2012 Patricia Sannit and David Hicks, Mindy Solomon Gallery, St. Petersburg , Florida
2012 Snyderman/Works Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2012 Collecting Arizona: Selections from the Arizona State university Museum of Art, Arizona State Museum of Art, Tempe, Arizona
2012 Craft National: Mulvane University, Topeka, Kansas
2012 Contemporary Forum, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
2012 Meyer Gallery, New Work, Park City, Utah
2012 La Mesa Invitational, Seattle, Washington
2012 Gebert Contemporary, “Introduction”, Scottsdale, Arizona
2012 Obsidian Gallery, “Patricia Sannit and Mary Fischer: New Work”, Tucson, Arizona
2011 Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, “Uncommon Ground: Impact and Influence”, Arvada, Colorado
2011 A.L. Swanson Gallery, Clay: Celebrating Archie Bray Foundation’s 60th Anniversary, Helena Montana
2011 La Mesa invitational, Tampa, Florida
2011 Mindy Solomon Gallery, group show, “Florida Souvenirs”, St Petersburg, Florida
2011 Citadel: an Installation by Patricia Sannit, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona
2010 Santa Fe Clay, La Mesa Invitational, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2010 Mindy Solomon Gallery, three person show, “Utility and Beauty”, St. Petersburg, Florida
2010 Santa Fe Clay, “Earth Origins: Patricia Sannit and David Hicks”, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2010 LongHouse Reserve Gallery, “Excentrica Invitational”, East Hampton, New York
2010 Costello Childs, Spring Exhibition: Randall Reid - Patricia Sannit, Scottsdale, Arizona
2010 Contemporary Craft 2010, juried by Jane Sauer, Mesa Contemporary Arts, Mesa, Arizona
2010 Archie Bray Foundation, “Beyond The Brickyard”, juried by Wayne Higby, Helena, Montana
2009 Phoenix Museum of Art, Contemporary Forum Artist Grant Exhibition
2009 Costello Childs Gallery, Gallery Artists at NCECA, Phoenix, Arizona
2009 Ink and Clay 35, Cal State Pomona, Kellogg Art Gallery, Pomona, California. Juror’s Award, Purchase Award
2009 Ceramics Facuty Show, Eric Fischl Gallery, Phoenix College, Phoenix, Arizona
2009 La Mesa 2009, Santa Fe Clay at NCECA
2008 Artisan Gallery, “Consider the Cup: Cup and Mug invitational”, Northhampton, Massachusetts
2008 Don Soker Gallery, San Francisco, California, “Summer Show”
2008 Art Spirit Gallery, Coeur d’Alene, ID, 2008 Clay Invitational
2008 Arizona State University Ceramic Research Center Gala Invitational Exhibition, Tempe, Arizona
2007 Udinotti Gallery, three person show, Scottsdale, Arizona
2007 Northern Clay Center, three person show, Minneapolis, Minnesota
2006 Udinotti Gallery, three person show, Scottsdale, Arizona
2006 Arizona State University Ceramic Research Center Gala Invitational Exhibition, Tempe, Arizona
2005 Plymouth Gallery, three-person show, Minneapolis, Minnesota
2004 Red Star Studios, group show, Kansas City, Missouri
2004 Udinotti Gallery, Group Ceramics Exhibition, Scottsdale, Arizona
2004 Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Regional Ceramics Show, Phoenix, Arizona
2003 Figuration, West Valley Art Museum, Peoria, Arizona
2003 Northern Clay Center, three-person show, Minneapolis Minnesota
2003 “Shared Passion”: Sara and David Lieberman Collection of Contemporary Ceramics and Craft, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona
2002 Santa Fe Clay, Annual Dinnerware Invitational, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2002 Works Gallery, solo show, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2001 Northern Clay Center, December Invitational, Minneapolis, Minnesota
2001 Bad Wimpfener Kunstgalerie, Bad Wimpfen, Germany, group show
2000 Mesa Contemporary Arts, Survey AZ: An Invitational Exhibition of Six Arizona Artists, Mesa, Arizona
2000 Udinotti Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona, ceramic artists group show
2000 Arizona State University Memorial Union Gallery, “All of Us”, group show
1999 Mesa Art Center, 99 Cups, Mesa, Arizona
1999 Udinotti Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona, two-person show
1999 The Works Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, solo exhibition
1999 Grand Canyon University Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona, “Menagerie”, an invitational exhibit of figurative ceramics
1998 Nancy Margolis Gallery, Portland, Maine, Invitational Exhibition
1998 Udinotti Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona, solo exhibition, paintings and sculpture
1998 Claudia Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, California, two-person show
1997 Shemer Art Center, “From the Ashes”; All Arizona Clay, Phoenix, Arizona
1997 Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, Arizona, “Connections”, group show
1997 Catherine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, California, solo exhibition
1996 Nancy Margolis Gallery, Portland, Maine, group show
1996 The Works Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, group show
1996 Virginia Breier Gallery, San Francisco, California, group show
1995 Galleria Mesa, Mesa, Arizona, 18th Annual Vahki Exhibit
1995 Claudia Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, California, “Textures”, group show
1995 Virginia Breier Gallery, San Francisco, California, group show
1995 San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, California, “The Prints and the Paper”, juried print exhibition
1995 Zoller Gallery, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, “Crafts National 29”
1995 ProArts Gallery, Oakland, California, “Impressions: The Medium Extended”, juried show
1995 SOMAR Gallery, San Francisco, California, “Artists of No Color”, five-person exhibition
1994 The Artery, Davis, California, “California Clay 94” (“Juror’s Award”)
1994 San Angelo Museum of Art, San Angelo, Texas, Ninth Annual San Angelo Ceramics Competition
1994 Morphos Gallery, San Francisco, California, “Etchings on Muslin”, solo exhibition
1993 Creative Growth Gallery, Oakland, California, “Pairings”, group show
1992 Morphos Gallery, San Francisco, California, solo show
1990 Robert Dana Gallery, San Francisco, California, solo show
1989 Creative Growth Gallery, Oakland, California, “Making Marks”, juried by Squeak Carnwath and Pat Klein
1984 Downey Museum of Art, Downey, California, American Ceramics National
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ceramics Now, “Artist Profile”, Issue 2, Spring 2012
Pacific Northwest Inlander, ”Spiritual Ceramics”, by Howie Stalwick www.inlander.com/inlandway/370697722684432.php
Phoenix Home and Garden, “Master of the Southwest, Patricia Sannit Queen of Clay”, March 2008, pp. 190-196
American Style, “Behind Closed Doors”, June 2008
“Shared Passion”: Sara and David Lieberman Collection of Contemporary Craft, Heather Sealy Lineberry and Peter Held, eds., pub. Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, c.2003
Phoenix Home and Garden, November 2001, “It’s All About Art; at Home with Rudy Turk”
John Carlos Villani, \\\\\\\"Mesa Exhibit Spotlights Artists on the Rise,\\\\\\\" Arizona Republic , 12/24/2000
Scottsdale Magazine, \\\\\\\"Brushstrokes\\\\\\\", September/October2000
Ceramics Monthly, “Up Front”, February 2000
Art-Talk Danny Medina, “Danny Hangs His Stockings”, December 1998
Ceramics Monthly, “Patricia Sannit”, May 1998
The Best of Pottery, J. Fairbanks and A. Fina, Eds. Rockport, Maine: Quarry Publishers, 1996
Ceramics Monthly “Ninth Annual San Angelo Competition”, February 1995
Moyle, Marilyn, “Gallery Graced by Multitude of Treasures”, Davis Enterprise, April 14, 1994
SF Live “Visual Arts”, March-April 1994
Sentinel, February, 1991, San Francisco, California
SELECTED AWARDS
2010 Arizona Commission on the Arts, Artist Project grant
Contemporary Forum, Artist Grant 2008
Ink and Clay, Juror’s award, purchase award
COLLECTIONS
Sid and Elaine Cohen
John Hickman
Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona
Downey Museum of Art, Downey, California
Rene De Rosa
Sara and David Lieberman
Rudy Turk
Stefan Jansen
Sky Harbor Airport, Phoenix, Arizona
Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, California
Peregrine Capital Investments
Joan Lincoln
Mesa Contemporary Arts, Mesa, Arizona
General Mills Corporation
Steve and Alexis Stone
Tana and Ridge Smidt
Midge and Jerry Golner
Mimi Jardine and Dan Fairis
Dale and Marshall Block