Dodd alum Jenn Graff (MFA 2002) currently has solo exhibition at Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation (OCAF). A New Direction is on view through Sunday, September 16.

Graff’s new figurative ceramic work studies the nuances communicated by human facial features, expressions, and appearance choices. The works explore various forms including vessels, wall installations, and sculptures. Color relationships and decisive marks give further clues to the individual figures represented.

Graff knew as a child that she would become an artist. Her interest in creating was heavily influenced by her grandmother who was a painter and art collector. She attended Alfred University in Alfred, New York where she earned a BFA in ceramics and painting. After graduating, she worked as a production potter’s apprentice in Pennsylvania. Soon after her apprenticeship, she moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan where she was hired to manage the Ann Arbor Art Center’s ceramics studio. For four years, she was responsible for the overall management and maintenance of the studio and gained experience in teaching wheel throwing, hand building, and glaze formulation courses.

The pursuit of a graduate degree brought her south to Athens, Georgia where she earned a MFA from the University of Georgia. Graff worked for two years as an assistant at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine. For the next several years, she earned a living as a studio potter and taught in various ceramic centers in the region. She is currently an Associate Professor of Art teaching ceramics courses, and the Gainesville campus Honors Director at the University of North Georgia in Oakwood, Georgia.