Derek Weisberg is an American sculptor that creates ceramic sculptures that resemble the human anatomy yet do not fully look human. His humanlike ceramic creations have garnered Weisberg many awards while studying and has allowed the world to see his artwork.
Below we will explore the bizarrely beautiful artworks created by Weisberg and who he is from his early life till now.
Early Life and Schooling
Weisberg was born in 1983, and he showed his artistic flair from a young age by creating sculptures from his mashed potatoes. When he was slightly older, Weisberg found out how good hot glue is and moved on to doing action figure assembly.
At the age of seven years old, Weisberg found the joys of working with ceramics, and since then, it has become his preferred art medium to sculpt with. Throughout his childhood in Bernica, California, till the age of 18, Weisberg pursued the art of ceramics before leaving for college.
Once Weisberg finished high school, he moved to Oakland, California, to pursue his passion for art and ceramics by attending College. Weisberg attended California College of Arts and Crafts, where he graduated in 2005 after receiving many awards. Weisberg got a Bachelor’s in Fine Art.
Work as an Artist
Since getting his Bachelor’s in Fine Art from CCAC, Weisberg has been a co-owner of an art gallery called Boontling Gallery. Besides co-owning his own gallery, Weisberg has done other shows and exhibits to show the world his ceramics.
Weisberg has worked with famous artists such as Stephen De Staebler, Ursula von Rydingsvard, and Manuel Neri, to name a few. Weisberg now lives in New York, where he is a faculty in the Greenwich House Pottery.
While working as a professional artist, Weisberg has stuck to a strict regime of having time to practice his artwork in the studio, exhibiting his artwork either regionally, nationally, or even internationally.
In the last eight years alone, Weisberg has been involved in over 90 art shows and exhibits with no signs of stopping.
Art Analysis
Below we will look at one of Weisberg’s ceramic sculptures and what it all means.
Tell Me About the Worms XXIX by Derek Weisberg
“Tell Me About the Worms XXIX” by Derek Weisberg is a ceramic sculpture made in 2020. It is a ceramic sculpture of a human head with a cone/cup resting on top of the head. The ceramic has been glazed to protect and harden the art piece.
The sculpture has been painted with a purple-grey color, but the edges and protrusions, such as the nose’s color, have been worn away. This gives the art piece an almost ancient or historic look to it. The worn-away color is light brown, which makes the sculpture look more worn than it actually is.
The cup on top of the figure’s head has a rough look, with it looking like it is almost draped onto the head and is slowly being molded into the head itself, becoming one. The face itself looks taunt and long. Its eyes are black and hollow, with the eyes being uneven giving it an odd appearance to such a simple subject.
Weisberg’s work is an example of someone passionate about what they do, the love of ceramics and life is evident in his sculptures. You can check out more of his work here.
Jason Collins is a freelance writer, epicure, and lover of all things human expression. While he has not had the opportunity to go to the Louvre in-person he has taken more virtual tours than he would care to remember or mention. When he is not out getting lost somewhere in the desert of Nevada he spends most of his time with his two beagles Max and Sherry.