MEET COURTNEY MAULDING
About the artist
Courtney Maulding is a ceramic artist who loves to combine her ceramics and photographs to create an alternative media melding. She is specifically drawn to the cyanotype, a blue print process that requires sunlight or UV rays. Courtney discovered this process as an undergrad and received a BFA in art and design at University of Houston - Clearlake in 2021. Courtney has exhibited at the UHCL art gallery in 2023 and at the Glassell Museum of Fine arts this year. Courtney has gained experience as a clay educator at HTX Clay, a ceramic instructor at the Glassell Junior School, and a studio assistant in ceramics at University of Houston - Clearlake. She is currently a resident in artist at Chehalem Cultural Center and will be exhibiting at the centers's resident show in 2025.
About the work
The complexity of human identity and human connections is what my work is derived from. Having a deeper understanding of ourselves and who we are as humans, my artwork offers a sense of innocence and vulnerability.
My cyanotype on ceramics is meant to bring a photograph to life but also leaving the viewer with a sense as if the photograph had been dropped in water. The photograph tends to feel as if it is floating away. The printing process from the sun is experimental and the rinsing in water afterwards is the most important part. After a cyanotype on ceramic has been rinsed the photograph has now become apart of this piece. My work is meant to feel archaic and surreal.
I like to break and experiment. I usually don't feel too attached to a lot of what I make. I like to make decisions based off what I break, meld, or print. As a maker, I feel the more I fail and make without thinking the closer I am to my best work.