Who We Are

Emiliano’s been following Cor around the country from studio to studio since 2004, but didn’t take his first ceramics class until a full year after Gasworks opened. More than making his work, Emiliano likes watching as students and members evolve as artists over the course of their months and years at Gasworks. He’s been known to wax philosophical, so don’t be surprised if he starts comparing the transformation of clay to the transformation of the human psyche.

Tiffany has been working with clay for a over third of her life. She’s inspired everyday by Gasworks’s community of artists and loves opening a glaze kiln and seeing everyone’s finished pieces for the first time. Her own work is decorated in intricate carvings of flora and fauna—though she’s had to switch from making oversized vases to teapots and tumblers after running out of room in her Brooklyn apartment. 
IG: @tiffanysawceramics

Sabine grew up in East Germany, but some of her biggest life milestones happened after she moved to New York in the late 90s: working as an urban planner, having a family, and—of course—discovering clay. Her favorite tech duty is reaching elbow-deep into a bucket of squishy waterlogged clay as part of the recycling process. Sabine’s signature line of pottery is carved with Brooklyn brownstones, and she’s working on a new series that resembles tufted upholstery.
IG: @smilingsunpottery

Before he was recruited as a tech, Paul was a member (and down-the-street neighbor) of Gasworks, making complex, honeycomb-like sculptures that reflect his formal education in biology and animal behavior. Now, as a part of the staff, his favorite task is examining test tiles from the studio’s latest batch of glaze experiments. If you happen to walk by the member space at 4am, you might catch Paul inside, working out new ideas in clay when he can’t sleep.
IG: @paul.distelzweig | www.apishabilis.com

Ester found her way to clay in a sculpture class in high school. After many on and off years with the medium, she joined the Gasworks team and reintegrated the craft as a mainstay in her art practice. You can find her in the studio loading kilns with a precision and ferocity she owes to her glory days as a competitive Tetris athlete, guiding students of various ages on how to center their first pot, or on the ground whispering sweet nothings to all the four legged friends that come to visit.

Jessica came into Gasworks as a member with eagerness to learn more in the medium of clay. She began her journey working with her preschoolers – molding play doh into small bowls, bracelets and animals for the kiddos – and realized then she had a knack for three dimensional art. She can now be found carving and sculpting decorative vessels, stacking kilns, and building relationships with folks through the art of clay (with her pug Buster by her side).
IG: @hueso_seco | huesoseco.com

Lilian took her first pottery class in high school, and immediately knew she was hooked. After working in the gallery world for a few years, she decided she couldn’t be without clay and left to teach and pursue her practice full-time. She is passionate about supporting community art spaces, and joined Gasworks to support Cor and Emiliano administratively. You might find her at the desk answering emails, taking photos and videos for Instagram, or running around Park Slope / Gowanus on errands for the studio.
IG: @_lilian_wu_ | bylilianwu.com

Tiana first got her hands on clay in high school during a figurative sculpture class, but didn’t return to clay until college. At the School of the Art Institute of Chicago she ended up focusing in ceramics, working mostly on sculpture and installation. After working as a production hand builder for nearly five years, she now spends most of her time teching/teaching at the studio and making sculptural, functional, and illustrative ceramics in her own practice. You might find Tig teaching a handbuilding class with her awesome students, chatting endlessly to members about their projects, working into the wee hours at the handbuilding tables, or carrying 150 lbs of clay all at once!
IG: @tigtucker | tianatucker.com

Sophia Carey has been working with ceramics since she was a child, but became more serious in college. She enjoys the challenge of pushing the medium of clay by handbuilding weird, creepy, organic forms and characters (often using her signature long nails as an effective carving tool). She joined Gasworks to train as a studio tech, and loves getting elbow deep in the reclaim, unloading the gas kiln, and being inspired by the community work around her.
IG: @sophia.agneni

Samson started their journey with clay at MassArt in Boston where they fell in love with the medium. Upon moving to Brooklyn in 2017, Sam started working at different studios and as a production artist for professional ceramicists to learn as much as they could. Nowadays, you can catch them here at Gasworks NYC, assisting members and marveling at student work. Sam’s favorite duties include recycling clay with the pug mill and experimenting with glazes. In their own practice, Sam creates all sorts of clay creatures and screen printed designs, which they sell at art markets across the Northeast.
IG: @samsonceramic

Ayla’s been working with clay all her life, but her practice is ever-evolving. While her earlier work was conceptual in nature—with experimental performances revolving around acts of eating and digesting clay—recently she’s found herself drawn to the traditional process of wood-firing. Some may say she’s getting tamer with age, but she prefers to think she’s more like a fine wine and getting more complex with time. 

Brandi was only three months into her newfound ceramics hobby when she joined the Gasworks team to flex the social media chops she picked up in her life as an Internet crafter. As a queer black femme, Brandi prizes community above all—and the one at Gasworks has not disappointed. Her latest project combines her expertise with yarn and her budding practice in clay in a series of functional ceramics for knitters.

If you’ve ever been to a holiday sale or art show at Gasworks, you’ve seen Ali’s work. She brings together a decade of organizing trade shows and 15 years making her own pottery to bring together ceramicists and non-makers alike at the studio’s community events. When she’s not working in clay, Ali makes meditative oil paintings of stacks—stacks of linens, stacks of folded shirts, stacks of sandwich ingredients (also known as a sandwich).