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Artist Biography – Charles Bound
Charles Bound (born 1939, New York City) is a studio potter whose practice is shaped by an unconventional path into ceramics and an international working life. He initially trained in English Literature, graduating from Union University in 1962, before spending many years teaching, writing and working in publishing. From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, he lived and worked extensively in Africa, particularly Kenya, alongside periods in the United States.
Bound did not begin studying ceramics until 1983, establishing a studio while working as a college technician and teaching. A pivotal moment came in 1994 when he was given space on a farm in Wales to build his own wood-fired kiln, which has since become central to his practice. He continues to live and work in Wales with his wife Joy.
His work is shaped by time spent in the USA, Africa and the UK, as well as by the Welsh farm landscape in which he now works. Loose, tactile and process-led, his ceramics allow ash, flame and extended firings to play a defining role in the finished surface.
Bound has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally. His work has been shown at respected galleries specialising in studio ceramics, including Contemporary Ceramics (London), Alpha House Gallery (Sherborne), Primavera Gallery (Cambridge), Hart Gallery (London), European Ceramics (Leeds), Copernican Connection (Yorkshire), Oxford Ceramics, Candover Gallery (Hampshire), the Leach Gallery, Studio and Museum in St Ives, and Monmouth Museum. International exhibitions have taken place in France, Germany, New Zealand and the United States, and his work has featured in curated shows such as Learning to See at Contemporary Ceramics.