Matt Wedel: Mythology Plates
L.A. Louver is delighted to present a focused look at Matt Wedel’s “Mythology Plate” series.
Matt Wedel
Mythology Plate (MW25-013), 2020 (recto/verso)
majolica on terracotta
10 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1 3/4 in. (26.7 x 26.7 x 4.4 cm)
$2200
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Click and drag bar for verso
Rich with color, intricate patterns, and creative imagery, these nine unique works from a limited series each depict a distinctive narrative image of myth. While the narratives represented are broadly connected by a garden setting, each individual work addresses distinct stories of birth, harvest, religious practice, and ceremonies around individual caretaking.
Matt Wedel
Mythology Plate (MW25-008), 2019 (recto/verso)
majolica on terracotta
8 x 8 1/4 x 2 in. (20.3 x 21 x 5.1 cm)
$1,500
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“I have long been interested in why the mind sees images in the world. Not images of the landscape, but within the landscape. How these images are interpreted, their relationship to the origin of myth, and what it means to record them.”
- Matt Wedel
Matt Wedel
Mythology Plate (MW25-009), 2019 (recto/detail/verso)
majolica on terracotta
9 x 9 x 2 in. (22.9 x 22.9 x 5.1 cm)
$1800
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Matt Wedel
Mythology Plate (MW25-009), 2019 (recto/detail/verso)
majolica on terracotta
9 x 9 x 2 in. (22.9 x 22.9 x 5.1 cm)
$1800
Inquire
For Wedel, the concept of “myth” is not inherently tied to a traditional, identifiable, fixed story that has been told throughout history. Instead, mythology represents the images, stories, and prompts for personal growth that are organically revealed to a person throughout their lifetime. Wedel speaks of his artistic process as a “process of listening to these images that question and those that challenge what I understand about the world.”
Matt Wedel
Mythology Plate (MW25-010), 2019 (recto/verso)
majolica on terracotta
8 3/4 x 8 3/4 x 1 3/4 in. (22.2 x 22.2 x 4.4 cm)
$1800
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“As my work evolved into abstraction, my body became as much the subject matter as the landscape that I was creating. I began to realize that the images and narratives that I was looking for were right in front of me. Abstraction became the place where the images emerge. These images existed in the patterns on the floor, in the shape of my emotions, and in the silhouettes of the trees that surrounded my home. My work became more about the act of listening and about understanding the context where this listening takes place.”
- Matt Wedel
Matt Wedel
Mythology Plate (MW25-012), 2020 (recto/verso)
majolica on terracotta
9 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 1 3/4 in. (24.1 x 24.1 x 4.4 cm)
$2000
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Matt Wedel
Mythology Plate (MW25-007), 2019 (recto/verso)
majolica on terracotta
8 x 8 1/4 x 2 in. (20.3 x 21 x 5.1 cm)
$1,800
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Click and drag bar for verso
While these works portray special narratives that Wedel himself has imagined, they are not without precedent or influence. Wedel admires the history of maiolica painting—a style of ceramic decoration common in the Italian Renaissance—the influence of which appears in the vibrant hues and geometric ornamentation of Wedel’s designs. The clay itself also significantly impacts the work, requiring the artist to relinquish control and allow the material to transform within the kiln.
Reference Image, Not for Sale
Acquamanile
Likely Deruta, Italy, c. 1490-1500
Palazzo Baldeschi Museum, Fondazione Perugia, Perugia, Italy
Matt Wedel
Mythology Plate (MW25-011), 2020 (recto/verso)
majolica on terracotta
11 1/4 x 11 1/4 x 1 1/2 in. (28.6 x 28.6 x 3.8 cm)
$2200
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Matt Wedel
Mythology Plate (MW25-020), 2020 (recto/verso/detail)
majolica on terracotta
8 1/4 x 8 1/4 x 1 1/2 in. (21 x 21 x 3.8 cm)
$1500
Inquire
Matt Wedel
Mythology Plate (MW25-020), 2020 (recto/verso/detail)
majolica on terracotta
8 1/4 x 8 1/4 x 1 1/2 in. (21 x 21 x 3.8 cm)
$1500
Inquire
“I am more interested in the world that I have yet to understand and the tenderness involved in allowing this to be recorded. The truths that emerge.”
- Matt Wedel
Matt Wedel
Mythology Plate (MW25-015), 2020 (recto/detail/verso)
majolica on terracotta
11 5/8 x 12 1/4 x 2 in. (29.5 x 31.1 x 5.1 cm)
$2200
Inquire
About Matt Wedel
Photo: Bobby Cummerow
Matt Wedel was born and raised in Palisade, Colorado, and began working with clay at a young age. Under the guidance of his father, a functional potter, Wedel developed an early understanding of clay as a studio practice. These early experiences led him to earn a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA in ceramics from California State University, Long Beach. He has taught largescale ceramics and contemporary practice at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Rhode Island School of Design, University of Colorado, Boulder and Ohio University.
Wedel’s work has been exhibited widely, notably the solo exhibition Matt Wedel: Phenomenal Debris at the Toledo Museum of Art (2023). His work is held in both private and public collections internationally, including the Clay Museum of Ceramic Art in Middelfart, Denmark, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Halifax, Canada, the Honolulu Art Museum in Hawaii, and the Long Beach Museum of Art in California, among others. Wedel has been the recipient of several prestigious international honors; he was awarded the Grand Prize in the 2024 Gyeonggi Ceramics Biennale and was a finalist for the 2025 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize.
Matt Wedel currently maintains a full-time studio practice in Southeast Ohio where he lives with his family. Learn more at www.mattwedel.com.
