Bio
Music and nature are instilled in Robert Zumwalt and the objects he creates. Robert grew up in Fresno, California where his family frequented the epic national parks of Yosemite and Sequoia. Drawn to music at an early age, Robert spent half his life studying classical piano and clarinet, culminating in a master’s degree from San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Following school, he volunteered at San Francisco’s arboretum where he studied botanical form and landscape which led to work as a gardener. Robert conceptualized and installed gardens using his foundation of music. Musical ideas of form, structure, texture, motifs and style lent themselves to constructing physical space. The seasons and the ephemeral nature of the garden became his meter and rhythm. At age thirty-five Robert enrolled in his first pottery class. Initially, he was enamored with producing functional ceramics, the technique and physicality of wheel throwing. However, the call of the sublime, a reminiscence to music making, of constructing and sharing other worlds, returned to Robert’s aspirations. Graduating in 2024 from Syracuse University with his MFA, Robert now focuses on bringing a sense of time and space into immutable objects with the transformative experience of music as his guiding light.
Personal Statement
My ceramic practice is a material investigation guided by process. I create iterative systems of production that result in series or fragments for larger works. Form is often a byproduct or secondary to this practice. My systems are set up to fail, creating obstacles that compel intuitive making, balancing process and hand and ultimately reflecting humanity. Recurring patterns of nature as well as natural forces make the bulk of my mark making. I use the layered clay technique, nerikomi, to create linework that evinces every action and to depict our existential experience through time.
