In the past decade the name Molly Hatch has become synonymous with contemporary ceramics.  Hatch’s ceramic installations, inspired by historical decoration, have been exhibited and collected all over the world and garnered her a loyal and fervent following. Todd Merrill Studio has represented Hatch since 2013.

In 2022 Molly Hatch took part in Making Place Matter, an ambitious and experimental exhibition that marked the opening of The Clay Studio’s newly built 34,000 sq ft expanded home. Located in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood, the Clay Studio is a non-profit centered around the art and craft of contemporary ceramics. Making Place Matter invited three leading ceramic artists to explore the idea of place with regard to personal history, cultural heritage, and social justice. Drawing on her ancestral heritage, Hatch’s grand-scale “plate paintings” take historical patterns – often from porcelain plates – as their source. Hatch seamlessly merges the past into the present as she enlarges historical ornament, vaulting it into near-abstraction.

Philadelphia Waterworks, featured in the exhibition, is directly inspired by a commemorative plate from 1825 celebrating the nation’s first municipal waterworks in the country (and the current site of the Philadelphia Museum of Art). By abstracting the historic drawing and interrupting the pattern with smaller reflective plates, Hatch puts the viewer squarely into the image, linking the present to the past.

As Hatch works on a commission basis, custom works may be requested.

Medium: Hand-thrown, hand-painted porcelain plates, underglaze, glaze, gold luster

Dimensions: 65” H x 72” W x 2.5” D, 165.1 H x 182.88 W x 6.35 D cm