Melissa Mytty

Melissa Mytty was born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. She received her BFA in ceramics from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit in 2005 and her MFA in ceramics from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 2007. She then moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to be a Resident Artist at The Clay Studio where she remained from 2007 through 2012. The ceramic vessel is the focus of her investigation in the studio. She makes forms using both pinching and slab building techniques. She enjoys combining various colors and techniques to achieve depth of surface and interesting results. The glaze is brushed onto the pots so the surfaces take on a painterly quality. She sees the surfaces as a combination of Color Field painting converged with Ben Day dots of Pop Art. The surfaces are layered with under glazes, glazes and luster. Mytty is interested in the combinations of these materials and their resulting emotive qualities. In some areas, there are four or five layers of glaze that create a depth of field concealing underlying colors in some areas and revealing in others. She strives to make beautiful, colorful and happy artwork to function well and bring joy to every day objects. Each form is one of a kind hand made and uniquely glazed by creating variations on each design. Mytty has exhibited nationally and is currently living and working out of her studio in Collegeville, Pennsylvania.