Oatmeal

OATMEAL is the studio practice of Elise Birnbaum.  Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, OATMEAL was an idea birthed from a meeting between friends to eat oatmeal and talk about making things.  Initially developed in the Japanese countryside, it focuses on sculptural, biomorphic shapes and vessels that reference the cloud pruned, sculptural trees found in Japanese gardens.  The concept now continues to evolve in the Homewood studio where it takes reference from new influences, from the human form to brutalist architecture.  Working predominantly with stoneware clay bodies using hand building techniques, variations in the process, such as slip casting, and material, such as porcelain, are present throughout these collections.