bio
Mack Baker is a transdisciplinary artist interested in the tactile allure of squishy forms—bodies, expressive line-work, and the curvature of wheel-thrown clay. Born in New England, Baker's journey began with a childhood fascination for artisan wares and craft pottery, evolving into a passion for wheel throwing from a young age. Spanning drawing, fibers, and ceramics, Baker's installation-based practice is concerned with themes of bodily intimacy and connection through repetitive mark making. Their ceramic sculptures explore the beauty in the clay’s decay and collapse, a metaphor for the serene vulnerability of a body at rest. Beyond their studio practice, Baker engages in relational aesthetics by hosting intimate dinner gatherings, where meals served on their ceramic plates which are adorned with words of affirmations and poetry, embedding thematic narratives within everyday rituals.
In 2022 Baker was included in the Austrian American Foundation’s collection in Salzburg, awarded during their residency at the Summer Academie at Festung Hohensalzburg. After graduating with their MFA in Ceramics at SAIC in 2023, Baker went on to complete residencies at the Institut für Alles Mögliche in Berlin and the Project Network residency at Guldagergård’s International Ceramic Research Center in Skælskør, Denmark. In 2024 they had a solo show at Rainbow Unicorn Gallery in Berlin and most recently a solo show in Chicago at Compound Yellow. Baker continues their practice as a studio artist in both Chicago and Berlin.
cv
Solo Exhibitions
2022- (not) hiding, Gallery 1922 SAIC, Chicago IL
2022- Being With You, Gallery 1922 SAIC, Chicago IL
2019- Fascial Movements, UVM, Burlington VT
2016- Mack Baker, Birch Alley, Worcester MA
Group Shows
2023-24- Unfurled, Post Residency Group show, Denver CO
2023- Zeitgeist Group Show, Institut für Alles Mögliche, Berlin DE
2023- Graduate Thesis Exhibition 2, Chicago IL
2023- SPACORE, Co-Prosperity, Chicago IL
2023- Me Importas Tù, The Martin Gallery, Chicago IL
2023- The Grounds Between Us, Heaven Gallery, Chicago IL
2022- Roy Leiman Center Exhibition, SAIC, Chicago IL
2022- SPACORE, Midway Art Fair, Chicago IL
2022- Festung Hohensalzburg Group Show, International Academy of Art, Salzburg, Austria
2022- pätˈlək, Gallery 1922 SAIC, Chicago IL
2021- Soft Spots: Body as Home, SMFA, Boston MA
2020- Reclaimed, SMFA, Boston MA
2019- Art Shape Mammoth Group Show, Spannocchia, Rosia Italy
2018- Alone Together, The Monkey House, Winooski VT
2017- Frog Hollow Ceramics Group Show, Frog Hollow, Burlington VT
2017- Art Shape Mammoth Group Show, Ironwood MI
2016- Sweet Sips, ONE Arts, Burlington VT
2016- Birch Alley Expo (3 shows in 3 months), Birch Alley, Worcester MA
Awards
2022- Seebacher Award, Austrian American Foundation, Salzburg, Austria
2021- New Artist Society Scholarship, SAIC
2020- Dean’s Research Grant, SMFA, Boston, MA
2019- APLE Research Grant, Burlington VT
Residencies
2024- Project Network Residency, Skælskør DK
2023- Institut für Alles Mögliche, Berlin DE
2023- Post Residency, Denver CO
2022- International Summer Academy, Festung Hohensalzurg, Salzburg, Austria
2019- Art Shape Mammoth Residency at Spannocchia, Rosia, Italy
2016- Visitor’s Center Art Camp, Ironwood MI
Dinners
2023- Gertie Exposition Weekend Dinner (featured artist), Chicago IL
Press
https://kumorecords.com/Mack-baker/
https://www.aaf-online.org/index.php/aaf-fine-arts-prize.html
https://sixtyinchesfromcenter.org/review-mdw-art-fair-at-mana-contemporary/