Artist Spotlight: Dennis Maust

“Confluence,” tilework installation at Lancaster Mennonite School, by Dennis Maust, 1991-1992. — Dennis Maust

Anabaptist World: How did you become an artist? 

Dennis Maust: The arts were appreciated in my childhood home. Music was a big part of that as my father was a music educator and known as a singer and choir director. We would go as a family to art galleries and museums when we were visiting large cities. I knew from an early age that I was interested in the creative process and in working with my hands.  However, it took some time before I actually saw myself as an artist.  I became an artist as I continued to pursue an arts education, in college and in graduate school.  I became an artist through practice, daily work in the studio, exposure to the work of others and by putting my work out into the world.

AW: When did you begin to work in clay? 

DM: In my junior year of college I took a ceramics class and really enjoyed it. As a result I went to Goshen College in Indiana for a semester specifically to study with Marvin Bartel, an excellent potter in the art department there. Marvin had an impact on my work well beyond the short time I studied with him.

AW: What do you create? 

DM: My work has taken many forms. I have done large-scale tile commissions, functional pottery, as well as one of a kind sculptural vessels.

AW: I first saw your work when I was a student at Lancaster Mennonite School almost 25 years ago. It was an installation in the Fine Arts Center lobby. What struck me then were the tile designs and the very tall pitcher. Could you describe some of your artistic influences in that installation?

DM: The intention of the piece is to suggest visually what happens when different cultures interact and the sometimes smooth, sometimes rough adjustments necessary for communication. The title of the piece is “Confluence.”  I involved a number of students in creating that project.  I assigned the students to research motifs from cultures all over the world.  I then designed ways to migrate from one motif to the next.  These intercultural patterns demonstrated the effort required to move between decorative traditions.  I then worked with several students to create the tiles.  Some of the tile patterns I had encountered while living in Egypt, Bangladesh and Pakistan.  The three- dimensional elements were similar to vessels I had made in previous work.

Untitled, 2023. — Dennis Maust

AW: You have spent time living and traveling internationally. What role has that played in your work? 

DM: It has played a major role since I firmly believe in the importance  of experiential and visual memory in  how an artist  sees the world. My interest in surfaces that demonstrate their history can be traced back to several intense experiences that made a significant impact. My collection of patterns and motifs, which I utilize every day in the studio, are all connected in some way to something I noticed along the way either in a craft product we were designing (in Tanzania) for North American markets or in a museum in Cusco, Peru, or a carved motif in a Pakistani mosque. Carpet patterns have been a fascination of mine ever since my first trip to Turkey in 1979. I am repeatedly drawn to those elements — walls, doors, remnants of old roads, worn fabrics and age-marked faces — that demonstrate beautifully how to survive, endure and celebrate the passage of time.

AW: How have your home places, such as Harrisonburg, Va., and Lancaster County, Pa., impacted your ceramics?

DM: While I don’t draw heavily on motifs from these locations, my work has been influenced by the physical environment where I live and work.  There are pieces that reflect the farm fields that fill the view from my studio, and from time to time leaves from our backyard trees have made their way into my work.  And my work has been enriched by interacting with other artists in every community where I have lived.

Untitled, 1990s. — Dennis Maust

AW: You use earth tones and colors in many of your functional vessels and urns. Could you say more about color in your work? 

DM: Even more interesting to me than color is surface texture and pattern. Through these I am telling the story of the piece.  Subtle hues, variations of color and worn surfaces are what I’m aiming for.  If my work is confused with something from an archeological dig, I am pleased.

AW: What does a typical day look like in your studio?

DM: There is probably no such thing as a typical day because of the many interests in which I have become involved. I teach a pottery class once or twice a week to mostly older adults, I coach high school tennis in the fall, in the spring sing and play mandolin in a couple music groups, and lead music at church. So my studio routine is very fluid. When I am by myself in the studio, there are always new forms to try, glazes to mix, kilns to load, clay to process.  This variety of tasks  keeps me from ever being bored or tired of my life.

Untitled, 2016. — Dennis Maust

AW: What do you hope people will learn from your work?

DM: In my work, I express my past experiences and, through this personal communication, connect with other people, encouraging them to reflect on their own. Specifically in my functional work, I want to solve a challenge of creating a piece that fills the need of the user; for example, a platter that not only holds food but also displays it beautifully.  The function of some of my other work is more abstract.  In a series of architectural vessels, I was referencing the importance of contemplation.  In other pieces, I’ve considered the value of imperfection.  In still others, the richness of appreciating life as expressed in other cultures. It’s important to me that users appreciate not only the functionality of the piece but see the work as an expression of my experience.  What I hope flows from this is exploration of their own experiences and how that might be expressed.

Dennis Maust

Dennis Maust is a ceramics artist and teacher. He lives in Lititz, Pa., and attends Pilgrims Mennonite Church.

Eileen Kinch

Eileen Kinch is digital editor at Anabaptist World. She lives near Tylersport, Pennsylvania, with her husband and two cats. She Read More

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Anabaptist World Inc. (AW) is an independent journalistic ministry serving the global Anabaptist movement. We seek to inform, inspire and Read More

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