(Kay Cooper and Alex Gnefkow)
Gnefknacks is the name of the pottery partnership of Alex Gnefkow and Kay Cooper. Alex throws the pots and Kay does the glazing and decoration. Years ago, when they each became interested in pottery, they never anticipated being in a partnership with someone else, making pots as a business. They recently joined Red Chair Gallery where their work is currently on display.
Their partnership might never have happened if they hadn’t met through the very art medium that they share today. In 2017, Alex moved from Florida to Bend and enrolled at Central Oregon Community College to get an associate’s degree. Just for fun, he took a ceramics class there and soon was hooked on pottery. He was accepted into the work-study program and, after developing proficiency in pottery, was named kiln technician and later shop supervisor, a position he still holds.
Kay came to Central Oregon in 2010 from the island of Cyprus, and first encountered ceramics attending high school at Redmond Proficiency Academy. The wheel was never her favorite, so she focused on hand-building sculptures and exploring decoration aspects of the art. She continued pursuing the craft at COCC, taking classes under the same professors as Alex, though they wouldn’t meet until a few years later.
Alex began working at a local studio in 2022, where Kay happened to sign up for the first class he would teach. Their connection over the craft, as well as music and nature, led to a fast friendship, then relationship, and now partnership. Since 2023, their collaborative art has brought function and fashion to folks all over Central Oregon and beyond.
“Fun, funky and functional” is the way they describe their work, which ranges from mugs to ring dishes to decorative vases. In their home studio, Alex starts the project, throwing forms on the wheel with good structure and balance. While the pots are still wet, Kay applies a colored underglaze and scratches a design on them using an ancient technique called “sgrafitto.” She creates high-contrast by carving through the top layer of color to expose the color of the base clay. The design elements chosen depend on the shape of the form, whether or not to be abstract or more realistic, what colors to play with, but it all comes down to how Kay is feeling in the moment. A lot of her inspiration is drawn from nature, reflected in mushroom imagery, snakes, and greenery. Other themes include eyes, celestial bodies, and randomly flowing shapes and colors. The common denominator in these works is the use of bold and bright colors that complement the white speckled form they adorn. The result is one that combines two works of art into one wonderful and weird piece that can be thoroughly enjoyed.
The Gnefknacks team also has integrated their art at other local businesses. At Old Boy Vintage, a downtown shop selling vintage western wear, they sell ceramic bolo slides. Their work is also available at Mud Lake Studios . They will be participating in holiday markets at Mud Lake Studios December 13-14 and Somewhere That’s Green’s plant shop on December 20-21.
gnefknacks.com • Instagram: @gnefknacks