Born in 1942 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, Louis Marak is a ceramic artist and educator. Marak received his BFA from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana (1965) and MFA in ceramics from Alfred University in New York (1967). After completing his studies, he taught for several years at Keuka College in Keuka Park, New York, before accepting a position at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California in 1969. Marak was a professor at Humboldt State University for 37 years before retiring in 2006. He continues to explore paradox and illusion in his studio practice, creating ceramic works that – though they are three-dimensional containers – often appear flat. Marak’s work has been exhibited nationally and abroad, and it is represented in the collections of institutions, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Renwick Gallery in Washington, DC. Marak has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the California Arts Council. He was elected a Fellow of the American Craft Council in 2009.