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Boston Home MagazineWell PlatedFall 2014
HATCHโS REINTERPRETATION OF AN 18TH-CENTURY DRESDEN CHINA PATTERN WAS COMMISSIONED BY A CLIENT IN MONTREAL. PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL PIAZZA
A collection of unfinished pieces await paint.
A set of glazed palette chips.
Some of her own dishes serve as paint palettes.
Hatch digitally projects her own designs onto the wall and traces them onto her plates.
Design prototypes adorn Hatch’s studio shelves “like a 3-D sketchbook,” she says.
MOLLY HATCH AT HER POTTERY WHEEL. PHOTOS BY MICHAEL PIAZZA
HAND TOOLS HATCH USES TO MANIPULATE HER POTTERY. PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL PIAZZA
Well Plated
Molly Hatch produces cheerful ceramic designs in her western Massachusetts studio.
By Lindsay Tucker | Fall 2014
When Patty Isen, director of special projects for Anthropologie, spotted Florence-based ceramicist Molly Hatchโs quirky handpainted housewares in a Brooklyn shop window in 2009, she was sure sheโd struck gold. At the time, Hatch had been focused on studio pottery decorated with vibrant, often floral motifs, many of which were reinterpretations of historical patterns (her collections also feature original illustrations). It was this retro, playful vibe that Isen thought would sync well with Anthropologieโs vintage-inspired goods.
โWe had read about her and seen her at [the international art show] Art Basel,โ Isen says. โWhen we saw her in the window we got so excited, because we knew she was a perfect fit. My colleagues and I came together and were like, โWe love Molly Hatch!โโ Shortly thereafter, the retail powerhouse asked the artist to contribute designs for a mass-produced collection.
At first, Hatchโa Tufts at the Museum School graduate who also has an MFA in ceramics from the University of Colorado, Boulderโwas reluctant to jump in. โI had to sit on it for a couple of days,โ she says. โLike when a boyfriend calls you for the first time asking you out.โ But the opportunity to grow her brand while working with the famed retailer was too good to refuse.
These days, Hatch refers to her career as a balancing act between creating one-of-a-kind commissioned pieces, sold through her SoHo gallery rep, Todd Merrill, and the designs she devises for retailers big and small. โI think Iโve done a good job of keeping the two bodies of work related. The fine-art pieces are handmade from start to finish. My design work thatโs done specifically for manufacturing has taught me that I donโt need to limit myself to just ceramics,โ she says, mentioning that sheโs now working on a line of quilts and linens for the Georgia-based textile collective Blend.
Hatch now collaborates with museums as well. The recent installation โRecite,โ which debuted at New York Cityโs Collective 2 Design Fair, is made up of 199 hand-thrown porcelain plates, painted in the style of 18th-century Indian chintz from Cooper-Hewittโs textile archives. Her largest work to dateโa modern twist on the pointillist tradition, on display at the High Museum of Art, in Atlanta, Georgiaโwas inspired by two of the institutionโs 18th-century Chelsea Factory porcelain plates. Titled โPhysic Garden,โ the 456-plate exhibition stands two stories tall and 17 feet wide, and, in typical Molly Hatch style, features dainty blooms, vine-ripened fruit, and butterflies in flight.
Hatch attributes much of her success to her female mentors, including her mother, an oil painter, and her grandmother, a watercolorist and clay sculptor. While earning her bachelorโs degree, unsure if she was going to pursue painting, drawing, or pottery, Hatch met now-Harvard professor Kathy King, who encouraged her to combine her passions. โKathy gave me the techniques I needed to put my drawings on my pots,โ she says.
And it was the renowned Vermont potter Miranda Thomas who exposed Hatch to the realities of life as a full-time artist when she spent a year and a half working with Thomas in her Bridgewater studio: โShe was living in the tradition of Bernard Leach and Michael Cardew,โ Hatch says. โIt was a powerful way of handing down information from master to apprentice. You inherit a certain language of surface and form. It was clear that it was going to be physically challenging to make a living as a potter, but I got a great sense of what Iโd have to do to make it work for myself.โ And indeed, she has.
When asked to describe Hatchโs work in a few words or less, Patty Isen chuckles. โShe has a humor about her, with a nod to the traditional ceramics of the past. Sheโs a great collaborator, but keeps the integrity of what she does first and foremost.โ
Todd Merrill Studio
80 Lafayette Street
New York NY 10013
Phone: 212 673 0531
80 Lafayette Street
New York NY 10013
Phone: 212 673 0531
Todd Merrill Summer Studio
11 South Main Street
Southampton, NY 11968
Phone: 631 259 3601
11 South Main Street
Southampton, NY 11968
Phone: 631 259 3601