Chris Archer – Associate Dean at NHIA
Chris Archer, New Hampshire based art maker, art educator, and art advocate will offer a presentation of the diverse range of his work, his process, and how the impact he hopes to make with his practice. Having been a potter for 20+ years, functional pottery is both a significant part of his studio practice and a great inspiration for his sculptural forms, arrangements and site-specific projects. With a broad range of work (or what he considers, diverse delivery systems), Chris enjoys revealing and exploiting complexities in seemingly simple and mundane human behaviors. He characterizes his work as “an investigation of material engagement as a means of critical thinking, often referencing behaviors of the hand meant to provoke creative tension between sensory and cerebral awareness.”
Chris has exhibited nationally and internationally, earning multiple awards. His work is part permanent collections including the San Angelo Museum of Art in San Angelo, Texas and Tokyo Geidai in Tokyo, Japan.
Teaching has been an important part of Chris’ creative and artistic identity. He has taught in a myriad of venues including artist residencies and workshop presentations throughout New England; he served as a Guest Lecturer position at University of New Hampshire; and ran a series of community classes and workshops in his own studio, The Mud Room.
Since 1998, Chris has served as faculty at the New Hampshire Institute of Art, teaching in the undergraduate, graduate and community education programs. Currently, he holds an administrative position at NHIA, as the Associate Dean of Community Education.
Chris earned his BFA from Alfred University in 1992 and his MFA from Maine College of Art in 2008.