Bio
Christian McLean was born in 1985 in St. Paul Minnesota. He moved to Dayton, OH in 1991, and became interested in ceramics his senior year in high school. After attending Wright State University for a year and Miami University for two years as a Mathematics major, he became an art major concentrating in ceramics, and graduated in the fall of 2008.
Artist Statement
Collections of modular objects in order to build a more cohesive whole, is the general form of my work, whether it is ceramics, found object, or in a digital medium.
The objects allow me to investigate a variety of content. Currently, I have been using a lot of repeated functional ceramics to investigate current trends in American culture, but in a more abstract way I am able to investigate relationships between sounds and data through my digital medium.
Randomization and predictably unpredictable processes are the underlying structures of my work. In the digital realm I am able to incorporate certain variables with the ability to fluctuate creating a difference in each visual presentation. Concurrently, with ceramics there is always an uncertainty every time the kiln is opened, especially the salt kiln, even though I may have a general idea of what is will look like I am never 100% positive. I try to embrace the idea of chance in my work and allow things to progress organically.
