My name is Emma Herz Thakur, I recently graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology’s Dual BFA program in Ceramics and Illustration. I am an Open Research Fellow for The Fulbright Program in France for the 2024-2025 cycle. I see myself as a researcher who makes objects, rather than writes papers.

As I develop technically and conceptually, I am finding new ways to explore these two disparate worlds – the academic and the personal – are the sources of artistic conflict that I continue to work through daily. The work is a reflection of my experiences in historical research, illustration, design, and explorations of the ceramic medium. As a maker, I want to explore the best parts of this journey through a combination of ceramic form, decorative art, pattern, and my inspiration from flora and fauna.

Clay is both malleable and solid, and can be worked in many ways that are valuable to me as an illustrator. Ceramic surfaces can mimic painting, watercolor, ink, and pencil. There is a fluidity through the motions of making pots, and that rhythm repeats in every stage of the process. Very much like drawing, pottery can be physical, and gestural, but maintain all the qualities of a painting, but from all angles.