YEAR ONE: AROUND THE SUN
Mack Baker
Ceramic Wine Topper
(Flower)
Mack Baker is a transdisciplinary artist interested in the tactile allure of squishy forms—bodies, expressive line-work, and the curvature of wheel-thrown clay. Born in New England, Baker's journey began with a childhood fascination for artisan wares and craft pottery, evolving into a passion for wheel throwing from a young age. Spanning drawing, fibers, and ceramics, Baker's installation-based practice is concerned with themes of bodily intimacy and connection through repetitive mark making. Their ceramic sculptures explore the beauty in the clay’s decay and collapse, a metaphor for the serene vulnerability of a body at rest. Beyond their studio practice, Baker engages in relational aesthetics by hosting intimate dinner gatherings, where meals served on their ceramic plates which are adorned with words of affirmations and poetry, embedding thematic narratives within everyday rituals.
In 2022 Baker was included in the Austrian American Foundation’s collection in Salzburg, awarded during their residency at the Summer Academie at Festung Hohensalzburg. After graduating with their MFA in Ceramics at SAIC in 2023, Baker went on to complete residencies at the Institut für Alles Mögliche in Berlin and the Project Network residency at Guldagergård’s International Ceramic Research Center in Skælskør, Denmark. In 2024 they had a solo show at Rainbow Unicorn Gallery in Berlin and most recently a solo show in Chicago at Compound Yellow. Baker continues their practice as a studio artist in both Chicago and Berlin.