Colby Parsons
Colby Parsons, MFA (Southern Illinois University, Carbondale), is an Associate Professor of Visual Art at Texas Woman’s University, where he teaches Ceramics and Digital Craft. Parsons’ work applies aspects of traditional media approaches to digital-based processes, working in a range of media and formats including ceramics, digital fabrication, projection mapping, installation and interactivity. Parsons’ work has been shown nationally and internationally at venues including Navy Pier in Chicago, the Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum; the International Ceramic Research Center in Denmark; the Cameron Art Museum in North Carolina; the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Ana, California; the University of Pennsylvania Art Museum; and in Dallas at the Craighead Green Gallery, the Pawn Gallery, and 500X. In 2015, Parsons was awarded the Zanesville Art Prize. And in 2018, Parsons co-organized the "Humanizing the Digital" Symposium for the North Texas Digital Fabrication Group.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
MFA -- 1998, Ceramics, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL
BPh—1991, Interdisciplinary Studies, Miami University, Oxford, OH
Teaching Experience
Associate Professor, 2004-present, Visual Arts Dept., Texas Woman’s University
Assistant Professor, 1998-2003, Visual Arts Dept., Texas Woman’s University
Exhibitions
2019
Particle and Wave (international touring exhibition), ASU Art Museum Ceramics Research Center, AZ – group show
2018
Structured Light, Patterson-Appleton Center, Denton TX – solo show
Altered States, Lexington Art League, Lexington, KY – group show
Postal Art Exchange, La Cambre, Brussels, Belgium – Group Show
2017
FabNow Maker’s Conference Show, Ft. Worth, TX – group show.
Digital Fabrication Symposium Exhibition, Environmental Educational Science and Technology Building – group show
Beyond the Horizon, Cameron Museum of Art, Wilmington, NC – four person show (including Maya Lin)
Interactive Artwork at Denton Booth, SXSW Interactive, Austin, TX – Convention Exhibit
2016
Materials Hard and Soft, Center for Visual Arts, Denton, TX– group show
San Angelo National Ceramics Exhibition, SAMFA, San Angelo, TX – group show
Surface (interactive video collaboration with choreographer Rosemary Candelario, performed at Artswalk) TWU, Denton, TX -- collaboration
2015
Zanesville Art Prize Show, Zanesville Art Museum, Zanesville, OH – group show
Art in the Metroplex Show, Ft. Worth Community Art Center, Ft. Worth, TX – group show
Edge, TAMUC University Gallery, Commerce, TX – three person show
2014
Semiotic, Pittsburg State University Art Museum, Ft. Worth Community Art Center, Pittsburg, KS — solo show
Convergence, Living Arts, Tulsa, OK — solo show
Mute, Circuit 12 Gallery, Dallas, TX — group show,
Semiotic, Brookhaven Community College, Dallas, TX — solo show
co | action, collaborative installation with Anastasia Gabriel, 500X Gallery, Dallas, TX – collaborative show
2013
SOFA (Sculptural Objects Functional Art), Navy Pier, Chicago, IL,– group show at a major art fair
Semiotic, Ft. Worth Community Art Center, Ft. Worth, TX — solo show
New Directions, group show, Lacoste Gallery, Concord MA – group show
Yesterday's Tomorrow, Spring Street Studios, Houston, TX – group show
Attachments 15, The Ceramic Store, Houston, TX – group show
The Unbearable Lightness of Ceramics, M Squared Gallery, Houston, TX – group show
From Yellow Clay to Black Gumbo: Earth Movers in the Lone Star State, Winter Street Studios, Houston TX – group show
From Yellow Clay to Black Gumbo: Earth Movers in the Lone Star State, Pollock Gallery, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX – group show
2012
San Angelo National Ceramic Show, San Angelo Fine Arts Museum, San Angelo, TX – group show
Cameo Show, 18 Hands Gallery, Houston, TX – group show
Spring Show, Lake View Gallery, Tarrant County College NW, Ft. Worth, TX, Ft. Worth, TX – group show
2011
Best of Texas Clay, Texas Potters and Sculpture Guild, Ft. Worth Community Art Museum, Ft. Worth, TX – group show
Simulated Migrations, a video and ceramic installation installed during the national NCECA conference, Tampa Convention Center, Tampa, FL – group show
Six Pack, Live Oak Art Center, Columbus, TX – group show
2010
Korero: Ceramics in Conversation (the Taiwanese International Biennal), group show, Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum, Yingge, Taiwan – group show
Emergence, Bahdeebahdu, Philadelphia, PA – group show
Luminous Oscillations, group show, collaboration with composer Greg Dixon, Living Arts Gallery, Tulsa, OK – collaborative show
Thicket, solo show, The Ceramic Shop, Philadelphia, PA — solo show
2009
NCECA National, ASU Ceramic Research Center, Tempe, AZ – group show
Crossings, collaboration with Greg Dixon, Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia, University of North Texas – collaborative show
Miami University Department of Art 2009 Bicentennial Exhibition, group show, Miami University Art Museum, Oxford, Ohio – group show
Ultra Extra Arts Mix, an interdisciplinary multimedia arts event at the Center for Visual Art, Denton, TX – group show
2008
Cuckoo, collaboration with Mark Collop, 500X Gallery, Dallas, TX – collaborative show
Ultra Extra Arts Mix, Center for Visual Art, Denton, TX – group show
2007
The Second Coming, collaboration with Mark Collop, Pawn Gallery, Dallas, TX – collaborative show
New Texas Talent, Craighead Green Gallery, Dallas, TX – group show
2006
Liquid: dataspace and embodiment, collaboration with Brian Boldon, The International Ceramic Research Center, Skaelskor, Denmark – collaborative show
2005
Clay and Glass, Corning Community College, Corning, NY – group show
Ceramics Invitational 2005, A&M, Commerce, TX – group show
Colby Parsons-O’Keefe, Mountain View College, Dallas, TX — solo show
2004
University of Pennsylvania Ceramic Faculty Show, Philadelphia, PA – group show
Craftsummer Faculty Exhibition, Oxford, OH – group show
2003
Ceramics USA, University of North Texas, Denton, TX – group show
Art in the Metroplex, Texas Christian University, Ft. Worth, TX – group show
Emerging Artists, The Lubeznik Center for the Arts , Michigan City, IN – group show
Signifiers: New Directions in Clay, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA – group show
Residencies
Artist’s Residency at Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum, Yingge, Taiwan, 2010, for 8 weeks
Artist’s Residency at the Ceramics Shop, Philadelphia, PA, 2009, for 4 weeks
Artist’s Residency at the International Ceramic Research Center of Denmark, Skaelskor, Denmark, 2006, for 7 weeks
Artist’s Residency at the International Ceramic Research Center of Denmark, Skaelskor, Denmark, 2005, for 5 weeks
Paper Presentations
Presented as part of a panel discussion titled, "The Unbearable Lightness of Ceramics" at the NCECA convention in Houston, TX, 2013
Presented a paper at the Korero International Symposium at Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum, Yingge, Taiwan, 2010
Presented as part of a panel discussion titled, "Under the Influence: Digital/Elemental" at the NCECA convention in Indianapolis, IN, 2004
Published Images of Artwork or Writings that Discuss My Artwork.
“Clay and Light”, Colby Parsons, Studio Potter, Volume 42, no.2, p.42-48
“In an Instant”, S. Portico Bowman, Ceramics: Art and Perception, Issue 93, p.46-51, 2013
“Politics of Perception: Post-Foucauldian Ceramics”, Tony Merino, 2011
“Art works in constant conversation with their viewers”, Taiwan News, by Eva Tang, 2010/07/09
"Simulated Weather", Korero-Ceramics in Conversation:Taiwan Ceramics Biennale 2010 Catalog, Editor Shu-lin Chiang, published 07/2010
“2009 NCECA Biennial, The Clay National: An Independent Review by Anthony Merino”, Ceramics Art and Perception, Volume 19, Issue 4, p.110.
“Simulated Cloud”, exhibition catalog, NCECA National, ASU Ceramic Research Center, Tempe, AZ, 2009
“Simulated Cloud”, exhibition catalog, Miami University Department of Art 2009 Bicentennial Exhibition, Miami University Art Museum, Oxford, Ohio, 2009
“Liquid”, “Watercube”, and “Static,” Breaking the Mould: New Directions in Ceramics, Black Dog Publishing, 2007, p. 126-127