Image 1 of 13
Image 2 of 13
Image 3 of 13
Image 4 of 13
Image 5 of 13
Image 6 of 13
Image 7 of 13
Image 8 of 13
Image 9 of 13
Image 10 of 13
Image 11 of 13
Image 12 of 13
Image 13 of 13
Artist Biography – Charles Bound
Charles Bound (born 1939, New York City) is a studio potter whose practice is shaped by a highly unconventional route into ceramics and a life spent working across continents. He initially trained in English Literature, graduating from Union University in 1962, and spent his early professional life teaching, writing and working in publishing, dividing his time between the United States and Africa.
From the mid-1960s through the early 1970s, Bound lived and worked extensively in Africa, particularly Kenya, where he combined teaching, theatre work and travel. These formative years, spent outside the traditional art-school system, continue to inform his approach to making, material and surface.
Bound did not begin formal study in ceramics until 1983, establishing a studio while working as a college technician and teaching alongside his own practice. In 1994, he was given the opportunity to build a wood-fired kiln on a farm in Wales, a pivotal moment that defined the direction of his work. He has worked with wood firing ever since, allowing ash, flame and extended firing cycles to play an active role in the finished surface.
Now living and working in Wales with his wife Joy, Bound’s ceramics are shaped by the farm landscape and the rugged Welsh environment. His work is often described as loose and elemental, with forms that prioritise touch, weight and physical engagement with the material. Subtle influences from time spent in the USA, Africa and the UK sit beneath the surface, giving his work a distinctive sense of place and lived experience.
Bound has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally, with work 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. His ceramics have also been exhibited internationally, including in France, Germany, New Zealand and the United States, and have featured in curated exhibitions such as Learning to See at Contemporary Ceramics.
His work is held in private and public collections and is valued for its scale, honesty of process and strong sense of the maker’s hand.