Carrie Ohm

Using wheel thrown and hand-built ceramics along with mixed media, Carrie Ohm replicates everyday objects and presents them in ways that inspire wonder and whimsy. In “Below the Surface” ceramic plumbing pipes extend from under a hydrant to form a tangled mess of pipes. Ohm uses objects in many of her pieces whose subjects range from relative scales of success and failure to journeys and travel, to memory, to desires, to perception, and to spectacle.

Fire hydrants became an often-used object in Ohm’s work while living in Chicago. After hearing a radio article about the fact that many of the hydrants in the city were not even hooked up to water, she started to view these fountains of potential as underappreciated public sculptures. She liked them. She wanted others to notice them. She began to wonder what they are connected to and who decided they should be there. From there it was easy to imagine what may or may not exist below the surface.

Carrie Ohm is a mixed media artist working primarily in clay along with other materials to make often interactive pieces that often utilize everyday objects and natural phenomenon to explore more complex ideas around hanging on and letting go. She is an athlete, mother, and educator and each of those informs her work.

Originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Carrie earned her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA in painting and ceramics from the University of Toledo. She lived, lectured, and exhibited work widely around the Midwest, but for the past 12 years, California is home. She is currently a ceramic and studio art instructor at Chaffey College, Golden West College, and Saddleback College all in Southern California.