Maya Frodeman Gallery is pleased to present Offerings, an exhibition of new ceramic works by W. Tucker. Marking Tucker’s continued exploration of clay as an extension of his longstanding drawing and painting practice, the exhibition brings together a playful cast of loosely formed figures, animals, vessels, and objects that move freely between the recognizable and the unexpected.
For more than thirty years, Tucker has worked primarily with his non-dominant left hand, a choice that has become central to his process. Working this way allows him to relinquish control and avoid overthinking, leaving room for spontaneity, imperfection, and discovery. His approach to clay is much the same: he begins without a fixed idea of what a piece should become, responding to the material as it develops. Rather than striving for conventional ceramic forms, Tucker uses clay to bring the characters and marks of his two-dimensional work into physical space.
The resulting works balance a childlike directness with a more sophisticated awareness. Tucker is drawn to the simplicity and honesty of a child’s drawing, and is happiest when his work retains something rough, unfinished, or unexpected. Visible supports, irregular forms, and open spaces are embraced rather than corrected, allowing the process of making to remain present in the finished object.
For Tucker, the act of making is deeply personal, but the completed work becomes something shared. “Once a piece is completed, it becomes ‘an offering’—nothing grand, simply a small gesture from me to the viewer,” he writes. In Offerings, these gestures invite curiosity, humor, introspection, and wonder, offering viewers an opportunity to engage with the work on their own terms.
W. Tucker was born in 1959 in Goldsboro, North Carolina. He graduated from NYU with a BA in drama in 1982, later moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. While living with friends in the fabled art-centric Laurel Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles, he discovered a drafting table, large pads of drawing paper, and sets of oil and chalk pastels left in the house by a previous tenant. Drawing and painting became a happy respite from the "frantic dismay" of auditioning. About three years into the practice, a solo exhibition dropped into his lap, and a visual artist was born. Tucker's work has been represented in the US by galleries in California, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. He also works with Galleri Hedenius in Stockholm, Sweden and has had his work shown in various galleries in Switzerland. Tucker's work has been published in New American Paintings, a juried show in print. For the 2012-13 season Tucker was awarded Austin Critics Table Award for "Best Installation" as well as "Artist of the Year" for his installation at Texas State University. Tucker lives and works in Austin, Texas with his lovely wife Sylvia.
