Maia Erickson is an artist from Olympia, WA. She has worked with ceramics since 2015 and developed her practice through a medley of community programs, regional kiln firings and national workshops including programs at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Tennessee and Penland School of Craft in North Carolina. Maia was a 2025 Artist in Residence at Arbutus Folk School in Olympia, WA and is the recipient of a recent Artist Trust GAP award and a Washington Clay Arts Association Open Impact grant. Outside the studio Maia lives and farms alongside the people and animals at Riverbird Farm in Shelton, WA.
I am inspired by the natural collaboration between creativity and the living environment. As both an artist and a farmer, I am interested in the material qualities of the clay and living environment. I make vessels reflective of the place and season in which they were created.
Each of these pieces are thrown and trimmed on a potter’s wheel, then water-etched with a hand-cut resist to create the vining relief that rises from the surface. Each piece enters the kiln without an exterior glaze; ash and flame from the wood-burning kiln give the pieces their color and varying finish. These pieces are a practice and reward of inviting chance.
