Zach Dunn Silvermine Instructor

I had my first piece in a juried exhibition at Silvermine in 2011 while I was still in graduate school. In 2018-19, I worked in the gallery and since then, I have been a part of Silvermine in many different capacities. From teaching youth and adult ceramics classes, outreach workshops, to helping with a myriad of projects along the way.

Zach Dunn is an experienced artist currently living and creating in Connecticut. As an object maker and believer in the intrinsic value of the handmade, Zach has followed his passion for ceramics from his first class at Trumbull High School through an MFA at Syracuse University. With several advantageous apprenticeships, laudable lectures, worthwhile workshops, and prestigious professorships, Zach has built a collection of work that is timeless. Born in Boston and growing up in Connecticut, Zach’s work is reflective of his New England roots with playful elegance, classic style, and enduring functionality. He currently teaches at Silvermine Art Center, the University of Hartford, and Southern Connecticut State University, and has his studio in Seymour.

I am interested in the illusion of pace and time. From quantum physics, we know that time is as omnipresent as space. Time and technology appear to be ever-changing at increasing rates, however, they are a mere blink of an eye during the entirety of the universe’s existence. Objects that become obsolete in the very recent past hardly occurred when considered on a larger, more geological scale. For many individuals, these objects are just forgotten, detritus from a modern memory. This perceived acceleration of time is epitomized in the current dynamic urban landscape. “Old” buildings are run down, torn down, or repurposed. Increasingly rare, unadorned horizons and expanses of space are captured and rendered in a slower setting.

My work attempts to create objects and experiences that create instants in time or, as Julian Barbour theorizes, a series of “nows.” In a world without time, I aim to engage the audience in becoming acutely aware of the right now through as many senses as possible. This happens by inviting the viewer to slow down and question the progress around them, either through the use of a handmade functional object, a landscape, or through a sculpture of a recently antiquated technology replicated and memorialized in ceramic.

To inquire about the availability of Zach Dunn's work, call Silvermine Gallery at 203-966-9700 x 220 or visit our gallery store, Tuesday - Saturday, 10am - 4pm.