Turgua, Venezuela

ARTIST'S STATEMENT AND BIOGRAPHY

Artist's Statement

I am a utilitarian potter working in gas-fired stoneware. I first fell in love with the potter's wheel and traditional pots in college in Iowa in the '70s. Even though old pots remain a powerful reference in my work, my background has roots in many cultures and my pots are hybrids, a result of that confluence, as I am. I love the accidental and surprising interaction of forms and textures from diverse origins.

I make teapots, coffee cups, serving bowls and other functional forms. To me, one measure of their success is whether the pots are entertaining company, encouraging us to use them, delighting us in their variety, helping to provide a context and rhythm in daily life.

My family and I moved to Minnesota in 2005 from Venezuela, my birthplace. I am now working within the rich clay community of this state, enjoying the challenges and the support of good friends, family and colleagues. I have received all sorts of advice, guidance and encouragement. To them all, my grateful thanks.

Biannual pottery and craft sale in Turgua,Venezuela, "Encuentro de Turgua" 2005

Biography

Guillermo Cuellar was born in Venezuela in 1951. He studied ceramics at Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa, graduating in 1976. After working as an environmentalist he retook pottery in 1980. In 1986 he set up a studio in the village of Turgua, in the hills an hour southeast of the capital city Caracas where he made pots for the following sixteen years. In 2005 he emigrated to Shafer, Minnesota, where he and his wife Laurie MacGregor are currently extablishing a new home and studio.

In 1981 he met Warren MacKenzie, who was teaching in Caracas, and with whom he has had the opportunity of sharing workshop experience. He has also taught workshops sponsored by the Venezuelan Association of the Arts of Fire and assisted in those given by Warren, Linda Christianson, Clary Illian, Randy Johnston and Jan McKeachie, David Leach, and Mark Pharis.

His work has been on display in the Venezuelan National Art Gallery, the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas Sofia Imber, the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico, The Smithsonian Institution, The Northern Clay Center in Minnesota, and private galleries in the United States, England, Venezuela and Chile.

In 1992 he was a founder of the Grupo Turgua, a non-profit association of craftspeople dedicated to the support of good hand-made objects in Venezuela. From 1992 to 2005 he hosted twenty-eight group sales offering pottery, jewelry, photography, woodwork, drawing, weaving, Venezuelan native handwork and other creative expressions.

Guillermo also leads South American wilderness trips in Peru, Chile and Argentina.

Glazing and loading kiln in Shafer, Minnesota