Matt Wedel (b. 1983, Palisade, Colorado) is a ceramic artist known for his innovative approach to sculpture, pushing the boundaries of scale, color, and materiality. Immersed in the world of clay from an early age under the mentorship of his father, a functional potter, Wedel developed a profound connection to the medium, which continues to shape his artistic practice.

He earned his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2005 and his MFA in Ceramics from California State University, Long Beach, in 2007, studying under Tony Marsh and Kristen Morgin. His practice is rooted in both traditional ceramics and an expansive sculptural language that embraces abstraction, figuration, and landscape.

Wedel’s work has been exhibited widely, most recently in the solo exhibitions Matt Wedel: phenomenal debris at the Toledo Museum of Art (2023) and Matt Wedel: on the verge at the Louisiana State University Art Museum (2019). His work is held in collections and museums internationally, including the Clay Museum of Ceramic Art, Middlefart, Denmark, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and Halifax, Canada, the Honolulu Museum of Art in Hawaii, and the Long Beach, Museum of Art, California.

In addition to his studio practice, Wedel has been an educator, holding faculty positions at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Rhode Island School of Design, and the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Wedel’s sculptures reflect a deeply personal yet universal exploration of material and form. His large-scale floral and figurative works exude both vulnerability and monumentality, embodying a sense of growth, fragility, and resilience. By embracing the unpredictability of the ceramic process, Wedel creates work that is both intuitive and experimental, capturing the emotional and physical traces of making. His practice remains an ongoing dialogue between tradition and reinvention, challenging perceptions of what clay can be.