About the Artist

Craig Wood is an American ceramic artist based in St. Petersburg, Florida and Woodstock, New York. Working exclusively in hand-built clay, he creates whimsical, otherworldly sculptures that occupy the space between the organic and the mechanical. Through abstraction and anthropomorphism, his work invites viewers to project personality, emotion, or intention onto inanimate forms—an instinctive response that lies at the core of his practice.

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Wood’s artistic trajectory began with a focus on the two-dimensional possibilities of clay, using flat tile forms to explore emotion, identity, and conceptual narrative. This body of work culminated in the solo exhibition The Time Is NOW! The Ceramic Art of Craig Wood at the Woodstock Artists Association & Museum in 2010. While formally restrained, these early works established a lasting interest in how reduced forms can communicate presence, mood, and psychological charge.

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A pivotal shift occurred after Wood became a member artist at the Morean Center for Clay in St. Petersburg. Immersed in a community engaged in dynamic sculptural experimentation, he moved decisively into three-dimensional work. This evolution came into full focus with Under a Pink Sky: Life on Planet X, a 2024 solo exhibition that marked the emergence of his current sculptural language. The work introduced hybrid, geometric forms that feel oddly sentient—objects that hover between machine and organism, humor and vulnerability.

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Wood’s process is intuitive and highly personal. Many sculptures arrive as fully formed mental images, often emerging in the liminal space between sleep and wakefulness, and are realized through slab construction, hand-cut templates, and drape molds. Bright color, simplified geometry, and playful composition are deliberate choices, intended to encourage intuitive rather than analytical engagement. Industrial elements such as nails, tacks, and hardware introduce a mechanical counterpoint to otherwise approachable, almost creature-like forms.

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While the work often reads as playful, this quality is central rather than incidental. Wood views joy and childlike wonder as serious artistic pursuits—modes of perception that invite connection in an increasingly anxious and overstimulated cultural moment. His sculptures aim to create moments of recognition and delight, when an abstract object feels unexpectedly familiar and imagination is briefly given permission to lead.

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Wood is a member of Artaxis, an international network of ceramic artists selected by a jury of peers. His work has been published in 500 Tiles: An Inspiring Collection of International Work (Lark Books) and featured in Ceramics Monthly and Clay Times. He continues to exhibit nationally, developing a body of work that balances rigor and whimsy, structure and intuition, and invites viewers to encounter meaning in unexpected places.