Ceramic Pieces with Attitude, Upcycled from Unwanted Dishes by Dave Zackin

Dave Zackin is an artist who creates functional artwork from discarded pots at a community ceramic studio in Brooklyn, NY. His challenge is to transform half-finished pottery into something new. Despite not being adept at life drawing, he has a knack for creating funny faces on pottery. He started his journey at a ceramic studio that had a pile of unwanted pottery which he used to test glaze combinations.

More: Dave Zackin, Instagram h/t: boredpanda

He later moved to a larger community studio, Gasworks NYC, where he encouraged others to leave their unfinished projects for him to work on. He enjoys transforming misshapen and poorly thrown pots, and the abundance of unwanted pottery allows him to maintain a light-hearted approach to his work.

When he begins a piece, he likes to start without a clear plan, allowing mistakes and unexpected outcomes to guide his process. He draws inspiration from handwritten signs and enjoys bending the rules of design to overcome his insecurities.

Most of his pots don’t have much space for writing, so he opts for concise, quirky messages that start conventionally but end unexpectedly. By producing numerous pieces daily and not dwelling too long on each, he avoids overthinking and achieves unique results. He believes in getting his bad ideas out to make way for the good ones.

Zackin embraces his unique approach to ceramics, which involves starting without a plan and creating pieces that may not conform to traditional ideals of beauty or form. His work, while inexpensive, leaves a lasting impression.