United States of Matter
Mindy Solomon Gallery is pleased to present United States of Matter, the first Miami solo exhibition of Vienna-based ceramicist Matthias Kaiser. This exhibition brings together a comprehensive cross-section of Kaiser’s highly nuanced, stylistically diverse functional vessels. Rooted in rigorous apprenticeships in Japan and informed by extensive global travels, Kaiser’s work bridges ancient craft traditions with a fiercely contemporary, personal hybridity that defies specific coordinates of time and space.
United States of Matter serves as an intentional dialogue between human intent and the inherent voice of the earth. Rather than forcing clay into a submissive state of technical perfection, Kaiser practices a philosophy of non-dominion — a true collaboration of matter and idea. Every high-fired ceramic work on display is shaped from hand-harvested clays that retain their raw mineral diversity. Natural impurities such as grains of quartz and iron ore are not filtered out; instead, they are elevated to central design elements, leaving the ultimate embellishment of the form entirely to the substance itself.
The surface textures in this exhibition reflect a staggering spectrum of patience and labor. Viewers will encounter forms built from layered engobes, raw iron ore treatments, and endless manual sanding juxtaposed against delicate glazes formulated from plant ash and feldspar. Even the vessels bearing precious metal luster over-glazes reject sterile perfection, opting instead to strike a delicate balance between material splendor and the transient beauty of impermanence.
Ultimately, United States of Matter invites the viewer into a practice of slow looking. Kaiser’s understated, serene vessels require lengthy contemplation to reveal their gestural depths, echoing the very time, muscle memory, and generational knowledge required to harvest and shape them. By stepping back and letting the untamed material speak, Kaiser collapses a universe of complex geological layers into a singular, tranquil presence.
About Matthias Kaiser
Matthias Kaiser first began working with clay in New York, where he lived for three years in the late 1980s. After initially focusing on jazz, he turned to pottery and enrolled at Parsons School of Design. In 1990, he moved to Japan, where he apprenticed for two years with acclaimed pottery masters in Seto and Karatsu, learning techniques and aesthetics that continue to inform his practice.
For the past 30 years, Kaiser has worked from his studio in Grafendorf, in the Austrian countryside. Using only natural, unrefined clay that he digs and processes himself, he creates an evolving body of primarily functional ceramics. His work draws on a wide range of personal experiences gathered through travel, bringing together influences that span from wabi-sabi to voodoo.
Kaiser is currently establishing a second studio in Porto-Novo, Benin, where he plans to work for several months each year, dividing his time between Europe and Africa.
His work has been exhibited throughout Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, Iran, and Australia. His ceramics are held in museum collections in Austria, including the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) in Vienna; Germany, including the Bauhaus Museum Dessau; and Korea, including the Mungyeong Ceramic Museum.
Through his project Loyal Exports, Kaiser has undertaken field trips to India and Benin, where he sold his works in local markets for the symbolic price of $1. The project explores how people who might not otherwise encounter his work interact with his creations.
