An exhibition at MSU’s SCENE Metrospace features new work by a father-daughter duo, both Michigan State University alums, offering a unique opportunity to see two generations of Spartan artists in dialogue.
Teagan Chatterley, who graduated from MSU with a BFA in 2015, combines her knowledge of sculpture and designed objects to explore quirky objects, social interactions, culture, and the natural world in her sculpting. Her father, Mark Chatterley, who earned his MFA from MSU in 1981, has spent decades developing a body of work centered around ideas of flux, mortality and transformation.
These contrasting styles come together in Chatterley²: Intuitive Play, a sculptural series now on display at SCENE Metrospace that explores intergenerational joy through the act of ceramic material creation. The sculptures within the series were created using techniques both old and new. With different firing methods, glazes, sizes and complexity, the pieces demonstrate a natural shift in sculpting style over time.
The show’s title, Intuitive Play, comes from the playfulness both Mark and Teagan strive to reach within their work, where they allow themselves to lower barriers to creation, and a playfulness they want to share with the viewers. The Zen saying, “A beginner has many possibilities, and an expert has few,” is one that relates to this process as Mark and Teagan aimed to join their different life experiences and meld their ideas.
“I come from a mindset where bigger is better,” Mark said. “And Teagan goes into the microcosm like a jeweler. Her pieces have a bigger presence than mine. Teagan’s glazes are smooth with bright colors. Compared to my rough and crusty earth-tone glaze.”
Despite the external differences in their work, their creative processes and philosophies are not so different.
“We are both interested in materiality, exploration, and the evolution of our creative processes over time,” Teagan said. “While we approach our work differently, our ability to communicate through creative formats has existed for as long as I can remember. Similarly, the notion of not being afraid to explore and play is something that I was taught throughout my childhood. This notion is one we both try to remember as we work through projects.”
The work Mark and Teagan did for the Intuitive Play exhibit marks the first time they have collaborated. When they began discussing their joint exhibition, they sketched several sculpture concepts. The final works diverged significantly from those early ideas.
“Working together helped to inspire and push each of us in different directions that we hadn’t originally intended,” Teagan said.
A career in flux
Mark Chatterley has worked with clay for more than 40 years, exploring countless techniques, forms, and sizes of sculpture. Yet he found renewed freedom in working with his daughter on Intuitive Play.
“I’ve been working nonstop for 40 years with clay,” he said. “I’ve explored all sorts of techniques and shapes and sizes. And after a while you feel like you’ve pretty much done it all compared to someone who just took their first ceramic class and has no idea what the material can do. Having a whole world of possibilities, that is the trick to keep working.”
Mark’s work consistently returns to heavy themes: life, death, creation, and destruction. Exploring these themes led him to explore the spiritual aspect of humanity. He grew up Catholic but later decided to explore different ideas of spirituality, leading to a deep dive into shamanism and Zen Buddhism.
“For me, it all comes down to an energy in a way to view the world,” he said. “The work in the exhibit shows a little bit of all those explorations for me in a new way combined with Teagan’s work.”
This collaboration created a shift in his work, and working with his daughter allowed Mark to tap into a new sense of creative freedom.
“Her work is just fun, so I had to try and put a little more play into what I was doing, and not take myself so seriously,” he said. “It’s rather a freeing experience.”
For Mark, working with his daughter infused his work with an exciting freshness, and he reflects on the experience with warmth and gratitude.
“I am at the end of my career where Teagan is just beginning,” he said. “Professionally, I would like to share her work with the greater art market. That would bring new life to my practice and hopefully open up doors for her.”
Depicting human emotions
For Teagan Chatterley, the creative process is something fluid and driven primarily by instinct.
“My creative process is very dependent on the day and the project,” she said. “Most of the time, I need to begin by working with a material and my hands directly before I know where I am going. Other times, I need to look at the world around me — textures, colors, layers, books — for inspiration, or concepts, then sketch or write out ideas.”
A throughline in all of her work is the attempt to give form to unspoken emotions, social norms, nature, and experiences she has while traveling.
“My current work, while whimsical and silly, is an attempt to depict human emotion, especially those we may not have words for,” she said. “These pieces are able to act out our innermost feelings, ones we may not show in public, ranging from childish delight to disgust.”
For Teagan, the free-from exploration that fueled Intuitive Play is a foundational aspect of her practice, something she learned during her formative years.
“Growing up in a family so deeply involved in the arts allowed me to view art as a necessary part of life,” she said. “I feel really fortunate to have had a childhood deeply ingrained in the art world, a fortune I know many do not get to experience.”At MSU, she further honed her passion for art. Here, her advisors introduced her to the field of Industrial Design. This discovery led her to pursue a Master of Design in Designed Objects degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
At MSU, she further honed her passion for art. Here, her advisors introduced her to the field of Industrial Design. This discovery led her to pursue a Master of Design in Designed Objects degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
“The art department became my family, and Kresge became my home. I chose to pursue sculpture to develop skill sets with a variety of tools and deep dive into material studies,” she said. “This pathway was essential in my creative development, allowing me to feel limitless in my explorations.”
She continues to follow that curiosity wherever it leads.
“Each new work helps to propel the next one further,” she said. “These works seem to be a never-ending pathway of fun and ideas, ones which I will continue to explore.”
For Teagan, showing alongside her father in East Lansing is a powerful emotional milestone.
“I am really excited and honored to be able to exhibit with my dad,” she said. “I can distinctly remember attending my dad’s shows at galleries when I was young, so to be a part of that now is a wild creative full circle. Similarly, to show in the creative community my family has been surrounded by for years, and the amazing people who I grew up around, it feels like a family reunion.”
This story originally appeared on the College of Arts and Letters website.
