Jackson Shaner incorporates elements of body horror and the uncanny in many of his emotional clay works.
“I find great interest in the body’s ability to be both beautiful and aversive,” said the South Carolina sculptor. “Working in clay also allows me to explore vulnerable parts of myself in a tangible form.”
Artist: Born and raised in Greenville, SC, Shaner has been working with clay for 11 years.
He started in high school at the Fine Arts Center and continued his clay studies at Furman University, where he received a BA in studio art, concentrating in ceramics.
Midway through his undergraduate degree, Shaner worked for Will Donovan of Donovan Pottery in Greenville.
Over the course of three years, he gained lots of experience handling clay, throwing about 10,000 pots on the potter’s wheel.
After graduating, Shaner took a gap year to teach pottery classes at Hollowed Earth Pottery in his hometown.
Shaner is now a graduate teaching assistant at the University of South Carolina, where he is working on his MFA.
Studio: In 2023, Shaner started graduate school at USC, where he has much-appreciated studio space and equipment, like kilns, to complete his work.
Art & materials: Functional and sculptural ceramic artworks ($I,000 to $10,000.)
Also small or experimental pieces ($100 to $500), using clay, glazes, underglazes, airbrushed acrylics – and sometimes nail polish.
What’s popular: Escape jars, which Shaner started making after his mother died.
“I was carrying a lot of grief in my daily life,” said Shaner. “I felt as though I could only ‘take the lid off’ and express that grief when I went home, where it was safe to be vulnerable.”
The jars became a metaphor for that emotional containment, representing the choice to take the lid off – or leave it on, he added.
Recent work: A focus on themes of monstrosity, otherness, transformation, and queer theory, as “I dive into some of my anxieties surrounding my experiences growing up gay in the South.”
Must-have tools: The Xiem retractable scoring tool, the Mudtools red rubber kidney rib, and a sharp chopstick.
“These tools allow me to create so much faster than if I didn’t have them,” said Shaner.
Inspirations:
- Greco-Roman Classical sculpture.
- Contemporary sculpture/sculptors (especially those that create naturalistic creatures): Kyungmin Park, Curt Lacross, Russell Wrankle, Christopher David White, Johnson Tsang, CJ Carter, Jai Sallay-Carrington, Michelle Solorzano, Eva Tellier and Ronit Baranga.
- Horror movies.
- “Dark Fantasy” video games, mainly Dark Souls and Bloodborne.
Special commission: An urn for a deceased father’s ashes.
Recent awards/honors: Many, including:
- Presidential award, University of South Carolina (USC), Columbia, SC. 2025
- First place in “Rooted,” a juried art exhibition, Artista Vista, Columbia, SC. 2025.
- First place, USC annual juried student show, Columbia, SC. 2024.
- Lenore G. Tawney Scholarship, Penland School of Craft, Penland, NC.
Recent project:
- “Flesh and Fabric,” a solo show at 906 Art Gallery, Greenville, SC. 2025.
What’s next:
- “Creature Feature,” a solo exhibit for MFA thesis show, in Columbia SC. April 2026.
- Accepted into the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts National Juried Student Exhibition in Detroit, MI. March 2026.
Where to buy: jacksonshaner.com/shop
Connect:
@shanerceramics on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
