George Mason

George Mason has a background in ceramic architectural tile, and his work is steeped in the exploration of materials and history. Richly textured and saturated with color, the largest of his “relief tapestries” are pieced panels that occupy entire walls.

Mason began to combine encaustics with layered paper cutouts while teaching in Jerusalem, Indonesia, and India. Eventually, these works led to a multifaceted question that challenged the artist to synthesize several divergent interests. He asked, “Is it possible to create large dimensional works, outside the frame, highly textural, referencing textile, ceramic, and cutout traditions, which hang with authority yet surrender to gravity with grace?” He is currently finding out and living on the coast of Maine with his family.

A recipient of three National Endowment for the Arts awards and a founder of Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, Mason has taught at Cranbrook Academy of Art, the College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Ohio State University, University of Colorado Boulder, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

In his home state of Maine, he has shown at the Portland Museum of Art and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, with solo shows at the Farnsworth Museum and the Bowdoin College Museum of Art. Mason completed thirty-plus Percent for Art architectural ceramic projects for schools in Maine and New York City between 1986 and 2003, including a commission for the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta, Georgia.