Bobby Silverman is an artist-turned-designer, and now owner of
Alsio Design based in New York City. Originally trained as a potter in Japan, he has seen a variety of working methods and career paths that brought him to where he is today.
Silverman says that the forms he throws are not directly referencing any particular pot or style in general, but that he is attracted to a certain look of proportion inspired by these traditional Asian vessels. Because of his early training in pottery in Japan, traces of that experience come into his throwing inherently; his forms may not fit into a particular style but techniques he learned lend themselves to having “Asian-like” forms in a general way. As for the coloration of the pieces, Silverman says, “Chinese ceramics is about the whole idea of their ability to create extremely beautiful surfaces and particularly how the rims of the pieces are white. These vessels are definitely a homage to Song Dynasty monochromes and the way they pull away from edge and create a beautiful white line along the rims of the pieces. It is ceramic phenomena for these details to happen.” He also adds that Asian ideas about beauty are evident in his overall belief about what a vessel should be: “The whole philosophy about what is not there is as important as what is there; the fact that it is minimal, clean, elegant and refined.”
