Step into the mind of interdisciplinary artist C. Lofland and discover his craft; from writing to ceramics to the curation of the works of others

It all started with the written word…

Then came the fire…

I always dabbled in various visual artforms. Working with one’s hands is an incredibly effective way to treat an overactive mind, and though I was never good at drawing or painting (too tactile and precise for my jittery little hands) I found that more process-oriented, laborious art forms were appealing to me. I taught myself woodworking as a teenager, then came to dabble in clay, as many people do, but I never fell headfirst into the mud. That is until my first time firing a pottery kiln using only wood for fuel. The studios I grew up in (high school basements with tiny little electric Skuts and a color wheel of bottled glazes) were very detached from the arduous processes that make ceramics, as achieved by our ancestors for thousands of years, breathtaking. After three days of being a slave to this kiln, dropping everything to be at her beckon call, I found that I too had undergone a sort of alchemy, emerging with a new patina that marked me as a ceramists. No more paint-by-numbers pottery adventures. From there on out, it was all homemade glazes whose colors depend on the precise atmosphere of the kiln they are fired in, sculptures and pottery designed to best compliment these effects, and endless nights of experimenting with new ways to break even further from the norm.

But education never ends…

With every fiber of my creative being perfectly split between ceramics and creative writing, I found myself finishing undergrad with a degree in Interdisciplinary Arts from Eckerd College, Saint Petersburg, FL. This degree not only allowed me to balance visual and literary art, but helped me discover ways for these mediums to communicate in perfect synchronicity. This is where I first developed AWMA, a core pillar of this digital portfolio, and what also eventually inspired me to creative VICULIAR, where all of my artistic passions can lay side by side.

Since graduating, I’ve learned that my art goes far beyond what I create with my two hands and whatever tools and electronics that aid in my process. I realized that a huge part of being an artist is to create opportunity, to share ideas, share space, collaborate, educate and make art accessible. That is why I am here, on the internet, writing a bio about myself and my passions. Not because I feel a need to showcase my own art in an online portfolio (every professor I’ve ever had has begged me to do so but I never felt a strong enough reason to post pictures of my own crappy art and amateur writing). I’m creating this portfolio because I feel a need to facilitate a space where art of all kinds, wether it be a painting, a poem, or a pair of pants someone sewed from recycled burlap, has a place to forever exist. Sure, I will have many of my own works included in these pages, my role as curator also satiating that egotistical need for attention, but I want the main focus to be art. Perhaps, one day I can point a finger at this and say, “Hey, look at what I achieved. Isn’t that cool?” But for now, I just wanted to get as much art from as many people packed in here as possible. I hope in the end it means something.