Sam Chung

Mary Barringer is known for functional pots in which the surface technique is integral to the pot?s construction and not only its appearance. She uses multiple layers of slip and glaze that are scratched, stained, and sanded resulting in the integration of the decoration with the clay beneath.Occasionally Barringer also creates sculptural forms.

While at Bennington College, Barringer studied with Stanley Rosen who encouraged her to visit other clay studios and working potters. Barringer visited artists around the United States including Karen Karnes, Dave Shaner, Ken Ferguson, Ralph Bacerra, Robert Arneson and Michael Frimkess. In the summer of 1971 Barringer returned as an apprentice at Frimkess's studio in Venice, California. After college Barringer moved to Hartford, Connecticut and a few months later set up her first pottery studio,Park Street Potters. In the late 1980s Barringer moved to Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts where she lives and continues to work in her studio.

An interview with Mary Barringer conducted November 20-21, 2011 by Sequoia Miller, for the Bard Graduate Center's Craft, Art and Design Oral History Project is availableat:https://bgccraftartdesign.org/items/show/15