Dante Gambardella

Dante Gambardella has long been interested in working with and teaching about the use of local materials in contemporary ceramics. Following in the path of Frances Senska and former teacher Josh Deweese, he seeks to incorporate locally sourced clay into functional pottery. The mindful selection of materials that compose his functional pieces is tied directly to the precious resources they carry. Dante's love of local material was further deepened by a residency in Mashiko, Japan where clay was on every hillside making it easy to imagine a time when local materials were used out of necessity. Dante believes that utilizing local resources is a key step to reducing one's ecological footprint and it has become a large part of his ceramics practice.