Meet Abra Karbin

We had the good fortune of connecting with Abra Karbin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Abra, what inspires you?
I’m inspired by nature and creating highly functioning artwork that enhances one’s living space.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m a multi disciplinary artist. I make functional pottery, custom tile for kitchens and bathrooms, and polymer clay jewelry. My art is heavily influenced by nature. I try to capture the feel of natural scenes with my glazing to evoke feelings of being in the mountains, at the beach, at a sunset or sunrise, etc. I explore surface design techniques like underglaze/slip transfer, Mishima, and carving to incorporate my passions for tattooing and painting into my ceramics.

I like to make art that is highly functional and purposeful. It’s very important for me to live with art in my daily life and I hope to inspire others to do the same.

Lately I’ve been revisiting working with polymer clay. I mostly make heart pendants, gauged earrings, faux gauged earrings and keychains. Like my ceramics my polymer jewelry is colorful and vibrant, it’s a way for me to continue expressing myself with color, pattern, and design.

I drew and painted a lot as a child. In high school I started focusing more on art classes and decided to follow my passion for art into college at Illinois State University where I studied drawing, painting, color theory, glass blowing, graphic design, and ceramics. I attended Illinois State University for a year and a half before studying figure drawing and fresco painting in Florence, Italy for a semester. After returning to Chicago I transferred to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) where I received a bachelor of fine arts with an emphasis in ceramics in 2013. I studied ceramics and learned wheel throwing, hand building, glaze chemistry, mold making, and how to fire kilns.

While I was studying at SAIC I took on a tattooing apprenticeship at Rockstar Ink in Oak Park, IL. I tattooed seriously for about seven years, at which point I decided to focus my creative energies more on ceramics. I still love tattoos and I’m happy to be able to incorporate my tattooing skills into my ceramics.

I had a professor at SAIC, William O’Brien, who inspired me greatly. There are two things he said that have always stuck with me. The first is that throughout your career your contemporaries will change paths and stop practicing art but if you continue to focus on your art you’ll be that much closer to succeeding. The second is to be purposeful of how you spend your energy throughout your day- if you spend it all on work, scrolling, useless arguments/conversations, etc., you won’t have energy to put into your art practice.

Art school had its ups and downs like any college experience. I learned time management, problem solving, and creative thinking. I wish I had taken any business or marketing classes. As a small business owner it would have been very helpful. I’ve been selling my artwork on Etsy, at farmers markets, art festivals, and local shops since 2011.

I’ve worked in various ceramic studios. I’ve had a few artist in residency positions and I managed the Gunnison Arts Centers Clay Studio for a few years before finally finding my own studio space in. At my studio I make work, teach classes, and am integrating with my community. I’m working towards an art therapy practitioner certification which I’m very excited about. It’s very rewarding for me to teach people ceramics and offer them the opportunity to slow down and work with their hands for a few hours. I’m very excited to be able to expand my art practices and use my certification to help my community.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Gunnison, CO so whenever I’m in Denver I have some must have visits, especially when it comes to food. I’m a big fan of museums and love visiting the Museum of Illusions, the Denver Art Museum, Meow Wolf, the Butterfly Pavilion, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Clyfford Still Museum, the Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Art, the Museo de las Americas, the children museum and the aquarium.

For food I like Stueben’s and Torchy’s Taco. I don’t usually spend much time in Denver as I’m usually there to catch a flight or pick up clay in Arvada, because that’s the closest place for me to get ceramic supplies.

In Crested Butte, CO I highly recommend the Breadery, the Eldo, Thai Smile, the Secret Stash, the Dogwood, and Teocalli Tamale. In Gunnison, CO I highly recommend Anejos, the Dilly Deli, the Back Country Cafe, 1880, and the Dive.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My parents were the first supporters of my artwork. I’ve had several amazing teachers and professors throughout my career- William J O’Brien is a professor who had a profound impact on me. He’s a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and professor in Chicago, which is where I’m from. Shortly after I moved to Gunnison, Colorado, I was lucky to find an amazing group of women who have helped in various ways to encourage, support, and mentor me. The longer I’ve lived here the more I have integrated and created symbiotic relationships with the community of local artists.

Website: https://www.abrakarbinceramics.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abra_karbin_ceramics/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AbraKarbinCeramics/