ERIC SERRITELLA •   CHAPEL HILL, NC

Eric Serritella is a full-time ceramic trompe l’oeil artist specializing in hand-carved sculptures transforming clay into birch, charred and weathered logs. His one-of-a-kind sculptures are internationally recognized for their hyper-realism, and have been exhibited, awarded and collected on five continents for their exquisite organic design and incredibly lifelike textures.

Two dozen of his works are included in permanent collections including among others The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Asheville Art Museum, and the Mint Museum.

The artist has contributed to over 150 exhibitions globally and has been represented at some of the world’s top art and design fairs including TEFAF Maastricht, Art Basel, Design Miami, The Salon: Art + Design, FOG Art & Design, Masterpiece London, and SOFA Chicago. In 2017 Serritella was featured at Frieze NY as the solo artist. In 2024 a birch teapot became the first contemporary ceramic artwork ever to be acquired into the Winterthur Museum’s acclaimed historic clay collection.

Eric was honored by the James Renwick Alliance as the 2016 Distinguished Artist in ceramics at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. His 2018 New York solo show was recommended in the New York Times and he has received positive acclaim by Architectural Digest and renowned art critic/historian Daniella Ohad. Works have appeared on the covers of AmericanStyle and Pottery Making Illustrated, and in the pages of Architectural Digest, Ceramics Monthly, American Art Collector, Art & Antiques, Modern, NICHE, American Craft, New Glass Review, Clay Times, The Crafts Report, Design 360º (China), Ceramic Art (Taiwan), Lark Books’ 500 Teapots, Volume 2, as well as in several other books and calendars on ceramic art. 

Each piece Serritella makes begins as a blank piece of clay where work begins spontaneously and intuitively without the use of wood samples or models. He uses wheel throwing, slab building and hand building techniques to create his expressive forms. All the texture and details are hand-carved and no molds are used. After applying ceramic oxides for accent colors, the pieces are fired to over 2,100º F.

During the pandemic he added glass artwork to his repertoire. These colorful new works channel nature’s private stories so its secluded voices and soul-singings can be heard. Each is created first in clay, then cast in glass often using pate de verre for its alluring textures and depth.

"Art is the story of my subconscious as told by my hands. Art serves as an arena for connection, resonance, and reverberation. Thus, I create each sculpture as a conduit to emotion through inquiry, recognition and familiarity.

With my trompe l'oeil ceramic works I challenge the viewer with both the nature of the material and the messages within. Forms are completely hand-built and hand-carved with hyper-realistic textures transformed into charred logs, weathered wood and birch trees - the angels of the forest.

Through aging and decay, I explore how nature maintains its splendors with tenacity and triumphs of existence, despite the disregard we humans show her. I appreciate how ceramic mirrors the environment's fragility and durability - easily damaged if disrespected and yet invincible in its inherent beauty and longevity. 

Each organic creation fosters awareness and influences viewer behavior toward the environment. Through this consciousness, viewers acquire new appreciations and ways of seeing, and can thus choose to walk with softer steps."