Feature image: Photo: Stevie Connor.
By Linda Marcus
A sense of “self” is what interdisciplinary artist Aaron Becker finds when he works with clay. For him, the material is a means of communication. “Clay is like a conduit to my imagination,” he says. “It’s a relationship that’s honest, and it informs you while you’re working. You have to be tuned in all the time. With paint, you’re pushing it around with a brush—you can feel disconnected. With clay, you don’t.”
The Chicago-based, Wisconsin-born artist creates sculptural vessels that explore human experience. Becker spent more than a decade practicing traditional wheel-throwing, working strictly within that discipline. But after a short hiatus to pursue another passion—snowboarding—he began thinking more deeply about individualism, imperfection, and looseness. He became curious about what might happen if he allowed those ideas into his studio practice.
That shift marked a breakthrough. Becker embraced imperfection as a generative force rather than something to correct. “Your flaws are what make you different,” he says. “I love ugly things. I love seeing the human experience in how things are made and felt. I realized that was a great way to talk about things.”
He also began merging hand-building with his thrown forms, a hybrid approach that expanded the language of his work and opened new pathways for expression. The result is a body of clay pieces that convey not just technical skill but an evolving worldview. Becker views working with clay as a collaboration—one in which the material has an active voice.
“When I started working with clay, I learned to get in tune with the tips of my fingers,” he says. “I learned how to touch gently for the first time.”
Then Becker turns to glazing—an intuitive, deeply considered part of the process. “I think of color as a washing with time,” he says. “So, when we go to discover these pieces in a gallery or museum, you’re unearthing meaning. Each person will have a different experience.”
Becker’s appreciation for humble, functional forms connects in part to mingei—a Japanese modern aesthetic philosophy founded in the 1920s that incorporates Buddhist ideas. Mingei values beauty in everyday objects often made by unknown craftspeople and emphasizes communal authorship and the sincerity of handmade work.
Rooted in the spirit of mingei, Becker’s work honors the beauty found in objects shaped by ordinary hands and honest labor. Yet he brings that tradition into the present with a language unmistakably his own—one built on looseness, curiosity, and the willingness to let clay lead the way. His vessels become small monuments to imperfection, each one carrying the marks of the day it was made and the person who made it. In the end, Becker’s art offers a quiet reminder: the most meaningful forms in our lives are the ones that bear the imprint of being touched.
To learn more about Aaron Becker, visit asif1111.com and connect on Instagram at @aaron.asif.becker
Aaron Becker: Making Sense of Myself is published in Issue 40. Purchase a copy here.
Linda Marcus is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Drawing on her long history as a TV News journalist and fashion designer, her work in fiber and sculpture touches on issues of memory, identity, and materiality.
Marcus was recently awarded an art residency at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, and her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Wisconsin Art, the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts, as well as the Charles Allis Museum and numerous galleries across the country and in art publications. Currently, Marcus is the creative director and co-curator for the Saint Kate Arts Hotel in Milwaukee.
So proud of you Aaron!