Rupert J. Deese received a B.A. at Pomona College in 1950, followed by a M.F.A. at Claremont Graduate School in 1957 at the Claremont Graduate School in California, 1957. From 1957-1971, he shared his artistry as an instructor at the Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California.
In1964 he designed dinnerware for Franciscan Pottery Inc., never abandoning the wheel at his studio as a studio ceramicist. Function has always played a major role in his art making process. He finds excitement in solving the problem in designing and decorating the pot, vase, plate, jar or bowl in hand, but the applied pattern must support the usefulness of the piece. Applying a glaze to a fine textured walnut colored clay body, he fires his work to 2156 degrees, creating porcelain for multi-purposes.
Rupert J. Deese’s stoneware is ripe with organic forms suggestive of the human body or aerial views of landscapes, radiating patterns which signal nature’s ebb and flow. The seductive forms reference the California water sheds of San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers in particular; his surface effects resemble the cracked mud terrain of the Death Valley floor. Using simple geometric elements in design of swirling line and water-etched repeated pattern Rupert J. Deese condenses power and beauty into functional everyday objects.
-Tobey C. Moss Gallery