About

Anastasia Edry (born 2002, Cambridge, Massachusetts) lives and works in Detroit, Michigan, and Arlington, Massachusetts. She will receive her BFA in Craft and Materials Studies, with a focus in Ceramics from the College for Creative Studies in 2025. She has been featured in the College For Creative Studies Annual Student Exhibition in 2022 and 2023, at CCS, as well as EVERYTHING MUST GO: CERAMICS LIQUIDATION, 2023, at Public Pool, and Patchwork, An Eclectic Experience, 2023, at Design Studio 6.

ARTIST STATEMENT 2024

Exploring themes of domesticity, feminism, the concept of fads, as well as kitsch, through ceramic and multimedia works, my process involves creating primarily food based art with the intention of humor and reflection upon the subject. My work features mid century aesthetics, such as food fads of the time, and furniture design chioces, combined with humor in regards to excess and overconsumption. The work aims to critique the ideals of the time period, while simultaneously offering appreciation of the surface level aesthetics. Post WWII, domestic aesthetics shifted, suddenly there was more time for hobbies and elaborate cooking for the everyday middle class housewife, and with the advent of this time, came recipes designed as spectacles. The boom of gelatin and kitchen creations birthed humorously excessive foods, which are fascinating pieces of regarding the living situations of the time. Throughout my research process, I rely heavily on vintage cookbooks, as well as vintage craft tutorial books and catalogs. These materials provide primary source accounts of the domestic craft scene of the time, particularly the women’s domestic craft scene. These books teach basic painting, decoupage, stained glass, and many other skills in easily approachable step by step instructions. These sources highlight specifically feminine crafts, or activities a housewife could participate in, yet many are written by men. This patriarchal planning of femininity is fascinating, and I reflect such absurdity in my work. Books written by men with the target demographic being women shows the intent of dictating what these middle class suburban housewives should do with their free time to keep up appearances and be attractive to their husbands. Throughout my latest work I have explored handbuilt ceramics, stained glass, photography, woodworking, as well as textile and fiber arts. Recent pieces feature ceramic food replications and furniture built from mid century plans. My work is informed by the contemporary craft scene, yet reflects on craft scenes of before my time, and overall falls most into the sphere of contemporary folk art.

CV

EDUCATION
College for Creative Studies, Detroit, Michigan- BFA in Crafts and Materials Studies, 2025

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 - College for Creative Studies Annual Student Exhibition, College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI
2023 - Patchwork: An Eclectic Experience, Design Studio 6, Detroit, MI
2023 - EVERYTHING MUST GO: CERAMICS LIQUIDATION, Public Pool, Hamtramck, MI
2023 - College for Creative Studies Annual Student Exhibition, College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI
2022 - College for Creative Studies Annual Student Exhibition, College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI

AWARDS
2024 - Waranch Aquisition Fund
2023 - Waranch Aquisition Fund

WORK EXPERIENCE
2023-present -Glass Hot Shop Technician (Workstudy), College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI
2023-present- Summer Camp Ceramics Teacher, Fessenden Summer Camps, Newton, MA
2021-2023 - Ceramics Studio Technician (Workstudy), College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI
2021-2022 - Visitor Services Associate, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA

Contact

anastasia.r.edry@gmail.com or DM on Instagram