HAS Alumna Reflects on Her Experiences at UHart and Their Impact on Her Art and Teaching
Chotsani Dean is a ceramicist and professor, teaching at the University of Minnesota. As a research institution, the University provides a wonderful studio space and research budget to support Chotsani's research through studio practice, teaching, visiting artist workshops and applying to exhibitions and galleries. This has allowed her to experiment with new tools and equipment; she recently set up a 3D printer and is conducting research on how to incorporate the process into her work and her pedagogy, providing a balance between educating others about clay and art, helping them find their own way and continuing to learn herself.
“I think the wonderful thing about teaching is, you always get to engage in what's possible. It's all about embracing failure and encouraging curiosity. It’s always grounding, to have a hand in art, with everything you do.” As a teacher, Dean does not feel the need to compartmentalize. With colleagues actively making, and students learning and growing, Dean feels that teaching affirms her artwork and helps to sustain her studio practice. She is currently working on simulated quilts, creating individual ceramic tiles and laser printing into fired ceramic material.
Chotsani Dean '98, Alumna, Ceramics MajorI took a lot of painting courses, printmaking and figure drawing. I did not feel siloed. HAS maintains a way for students to develop a strong confident mastery in many different materials and to develop relationships with artists and teachers outside of their (main) discipline. There is just enough freedom to choose what you want to do and try new things, while being guided to make yourself the best artist you can be."
After graduating from HAS, Chotsani took some time to really figure out what she wanted to do and make. Her professors at HAS, such as visiting professor Mary Barringer, who introduced her to some of her favorite artists, played a key role in her next steps. Dean went on to graduate school at Washington University in St Louis and to work under Ron Fondow.
While at grad school, Chotsani kept in touch with her Hartford Art School Professor, Matt Towers. After receiving her MFA, Matt encouraged her to apply for a position at Hartford Art School. She did not hesitate and ended up back in Connecticut. “There isn’t enough that I could say about Matt Towers.” One of the biggest compliments to Dean was when he invited her back to be an Auerbach lecturer in 2019. Dean felt, to be brought back as a lecturer on par with some of the other artists that have been presented as Auerbach Lecturers in the past, was providential in some ways. Later, her position on the Collections Committee of CT, an organization that gives out fellowships and grants, enabled her to bring attention to the work of Matt Towers, which felt like an acknowledgment of the importance of her mentor.
Since then, Dean has worked as a tech and a professor at multiple colleges throughout Connecticut. Her love for the Hartford Art School has never dwindled. As a community college professor, she has recommended the program to countless students. To this day, Dean says that her Hartford Art School professors have an effect on her work.
"Fred Wessel taught me how to reign in my drawing. Anything you see in my work that deals with line is because of printmaking and figure drawing class at Hartford Art School. Fred taught me that it's not drawing for rendering, you embody the drawing, and you encounter the rest” and along with some hard work “the rest takes care of itself." Fred taught me how to grind a lithography stone, he had that deep knowledge of this historic, process, latent in technology which she loved. “I hate technology, but use it because of this love of history.”
Chotsani said that the connections with professors and colleagues at UHart makes it so that when you return to visit, it almost feels like you never left, in the best way possible.
Dean has been awarded as a Fulbright scholar, participated in artist residencies, such as the MJ Do Good Residency at the esteemed Red Lodge Clay Center. Most recently, she spent five years teaching ceramics at a liberal arts college in South Carolina. When the pandemic hit, Chotsani had finished off a busy year and was preparing for another, scheduled to be at the Koehler residency, to lead a workshop at the Grand Marais Art Colony in Minnesota. She has written an article for Studio Potter, curated a show at the Northern Clay Center, including her Trading Post Exchange work, and then later served on the Artist Advisory Committee for the Northern Clay Center.
Dean's advice for new graduates:
“DO YOUR WORK. WHEN IN DOUBT, DO YOUR WORK, when you’re not sure, DO YOUR WORK. When it seems hard do your work, be in the studio and figure out how to believe in the work, listen to your professors and techs and thank the staff. Be involved in the department. Make friends and create connections.”