Sean Lofton is a ceramic artist originally from Jacksonville Beach, Florida. He received his BFA in ceramics from the University of North Florida. He is currently living in Columbia, MO where he is pursuing his MFA at the University of Missouri. He has worked within the clay industry in several ways throughout his career including: studio technician, adjunct ceramics teacher, kiln repair technician, and ceramic retail manager. 

Sean's ceramic practice has made a diametric shift away from the utilitarian pot to the sculptural vessel. This sculptural work serves to challenge many of the prescriptions that he had learned in the making of pottery. His current work explores the creative possibilities that emerge when utility, and its methods of creation, are left at the periphery of his practice. This has led him use the formal language of pottery as a vernacular for abstraction. He is attempting to convert the innocuous utilitarian clay vessel into an arresting sculptural object. 

Sean's work usurps and recontextualizes the conventions that usually give the pot its comfortability. In doing so he wishes to create a sense of tension; through the use of material, form, and surface. He has focused particularly on the physical properties that exists in clay. This focus has led to objects that exist on the cusp of material failure, in order to better understand and appreciate his medium. In addition to recontextualizing the utilitarian characteristics of clay; A focus on mixed media has emerged in the sculptures. I am looking for ways to use other materials of construction in conjunction with the ceramic sculptural work so that all materials are elevated through their interaction and contrasting natures.