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Brian Chen | Episode 760
Brian Chen is from New Jersey and discovered ceramics in college in 2014 and has since spent most of his time trying to learn as much as he could. Brian took a few workshops before finding himself working with Simon Levin as an apprentice. Brian finished his apprenticeship at the end of 2020 and is currently a resident artist at Carbondale Clay Center.
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Do you feel that doing an internship gave you a really good exploration of this chosen career?
Yes. It gave me a really good understanding of studio management and how to start my own business and a really good understanding of wood firing and hopefully that will translate into atmospheric firing in general and that is what I want to continue exploring.
Do you feel like it increased your “marketability” ? I am talking about the pieces you are making. Do you think it gave increased value to it?
Yes?… There’s a lot of really good exposure that I have gotten from Simon that has helped marketability. I think I understand the question.
Do you feel that had you not done the internship, do you think your chances of being chosen as an emerging artist, do you think that would have been not possible? Or less likely?
Yes, for sure. I feel like the accelerated learning that I had during those 22 months would have taken me maybe an extra three years to get where I am. And I don’t even know if my work would have looked like this if I didn’t go through this apprenticeship.
Do you think your internship provided you some of those soft skills that are needed for being more professional at what you are doing with your art?
Yes. Are you referring to marketing and running a business or the making of the work?
I am thinking about the professionalism of marketing and being able to get it out into the world.
Yeah, Simon takes the apprentices to different shows and you see a lot of how he runs his own business and how he interacts with customers. It is definitely a good template for how things can be run if you like it that way and what things you would change for your own business. It is definitely a really great starting point.
Were there more interns there at that time?
Yeah, I crossed over with Daniel Full and I was working with him for a year and a half. He started in August of 2019 and we both finished at the same time. And I also crossed over with Kate Kennedy and she was there for six months.
Does the peer to peer bring as much benefit as peer to mentor?
In my experience, yes, but I don’t speak for all of his past apprentices.
Let’s say I am not sure I want to do an internship. Convince me why an internship would be good to go through.
Working with a potter in the field I think gives you a really great understanding of running a small business that academics might not necessarily help you with. You kind of see all aspects of running a small business. I can say that not all apprenticeships are the same as well. They are also not for everyone so some of that decision making would be on your end.
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Instagram: @brianchenpottery