For more than 35 years, fine art ceramist, Harris Deller has remained committed to making porcelain pottery and vessels. Through his work Deller examines the form and structure of the vessel, along with the issue of pottery and its varied place within the world. Working with a deliberately limited vocabulary, he investigates the permutations of selected formal elements, suppressing volume and exploring the dialectic between volume, line, form and space. He is interested in “abstract qualities” of glaze as well as incised patterned surface. For Deller, incising is an activity that lies somewhere between marking time and chaos management. At times, it is a spiritual adventure and at other times, meditation. He says “marking pattern can be like making music and looking for the sound between the notes.” His porcelain work is fired at 2,360 degrees Fahrenheit for the hardness and whiteness of the clay. He continues to look for elements that are unique to the pottery form and glaze. His work evolves from the experience of process.

Harris Deller was born in Brooklyn, NY. He received his BA from California State University, Northridge and his MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1973. He has lived in Southern Illinois for the past 35 years. Deller's work has been featured in more than 100 group exhibitions and over 15 solo exhibits in museums and galleries throughout the United States as well as in Asia and Europe. His work is represented in over 25 major collections including the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, NYC; Illinois State Museum, Chicago and Springfield, IL; Hallmark Art Collection, Kansas City; Shigaraki Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Japan; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY; San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Texas; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento; and deYoung Museum of Fine Arts, San Francisco.

Deller has been awarded the Artist Fellowship from the Illinois Arts Council on six different occasions; received Gold Medals at the 47th Concorso Internationale della Ceramica d’Arte, Fienza, and the 2nd International Ceramics Competition, Mino, Japan; and was awarded a regional National Endowment for the Arts Artist Fellowship and a Fulbright Fellowship to teach ceramics in Seoul, Korea. His works have been reviewed, pictured or cited in over 40 publications.