Ani Kasten’s ceramics stand out, even to an untrained eye. The push and pull between flawless and tarnished lends her pieces a rough, earned beauty like that found in nature.

“My work is sort of about relationships, and the vocabulary I use to talk about that is really based in my materials,” she explains. “I’m combining clays that don’t traditionally work well together—porcelain, stoneware—and kind of investigating through my materials the relationships that are tense and conflicting but also manage to find beauty and harmony through working together.”

American Craft magazine was excited to catch up with Kasten at the ACC Baltimore craft show and ask her a few questions about her work, her training, and what keeps her excited. Visit Ani Kasten’s website for more about her outstanding ceramic work.