Wesley Harvey
Biography
Wesley Harvey is originally from Van Buren, Indiana, "the popcorn capital of the world." He received his BFA in Ceramics in 2002 from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana and then received his MFA in Ceramics in 2007 from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Wesley has exhibited his artwork both nationally and internationally and is also a curator. His artwork can be found in various publications including Ceramics Monthly, Art in America, 500 Contemporary Ceramic Sculptures, and The Essential Guide to Mold Making & Slip Casting, and more. His artwork is included in permanent and private collections in the United States, South America, China, and Italy. In the spring of 2017, Wesley had artwork in the Whitney Biennial exhibiting as a participating member of Debtfair, an installation and project of Occupy Museums. He currently lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia and is a Lecturer in Ceramics and Graduate Director at the Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design at Georgia State University.
Artist Statement
My current body of artwork examines different facets of gay male sexuality and homoeroticism through the lens of queer theory using appropriation of imagery and objects. I want to address and question what it means to be gay, queer, and cisgender not only for my own sexuality, but for those around me too, both stranger and acquaintance.
I want to examine not only the normative behavior but also the deviant lifestyle, past and present, that often gets neglected and chastised. With previous artwork, I was examining my surroundings and personal encounters as the influence for the start of the collage process.
Recently, I have put myself aside as the starting point and have begun looking at other encounters and relationships in a voyeuristic way, using personal ads posted on dating/sex websites, mobile dating/sex applications, and even chat rooms. In this online and instant realm, I can find both the normative and the deviant behaviors that interest me to create the narratives that often begin as works on paper and transition to ceramics, ranging from functional artwork to vessels and sculpture.
