FORREST LESCH-MIDDELTON: FLM CERAMICS

- by Christopher Vibberts

Photo: FLM Ceramics

The first time I saw Forrest Lesch-Middelton’s ceramic work I was astounded, intrigued, and slightly confused. The simple mug my wife brought home from an art show gave me a strange sense of traveling back in time. The intricacy of the pattern emblazoned on the surface brought to mind ancient patterns I’ve seen in travels through Turkey as well as ornamentation on Asian relics from books and museums. I was fascinated that someone from our community could create something so reminiscent of an artifact from another time and place. I immediately wanted to know how such an exceptional looking object was created.

Since then, I have had the good fortune to get to know Forrest as a friend, see the vast array of his work, learn about his innovative "volumetric image transfer" technique, and even get to experience his process firsthand. I am even more captivated by his talent and vision now that I have seen the scope of his work and have a rudimentary understanding of his process.​

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I am honored to feature Forrest as the first artist collaboration in the MUSIC FÜR  CREATING project.
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When a very close friend’s father passed away, Forrest was commissioned to make an urn for the ashes. During this important task of creating a vessel that would cradle these cherished remains, Forrest needed to move from a space of knowing all the steps of his process, to feeling what he was creating, for someone that he had known. “He was a super sweet guy. He lived in Hawaii for a long time and had a great collection of Aloha shirts. They sent me images of a bunch of his shirts to see if I could pick something out as inspiration. There was one that had this pattern that was unlike most of the other traditional shirts. It had hard lines and was a Hawaiian tattoo for water and mountains. We isolated that design and turned it into a pattern and put it on the work.”

I was able to just let go. This album is a perfect background for that.

With Instar as his backdrop, he was able to drop into a special space. “When I was working I put the album on a loop and it was nice to not have that expectation of what we are all conditioned to think of music as. It gave me a lot of headspace to just be aware of my friends. I’ve made urns before, but honestly not for anyone I’ve ever known. When I make a piece that is this special to somebody I have to create a certain sense of reverence for what it is that I’m making.”

The final finished urn

It really was the perfect soundtrack to the act of making. Thank you.

I highly recommend you reserve some time to wander through the stunning display of Forrest Lesch-Middelton’s work on his website FLM Ceramics. One of my personal favorite offerings (close to my musical heart) is his sound waves tiles with patterns literally made from vibrating the tiles at specific frequencies.  You won’t be disappointed! 

Forrest Lesch-Middelton is a potter, tile maker, and educator living and working in Petaluma, CA. Forrest found pottery at the age of 14 and since that time has been traveling the country as a student, resident, educator, advocate, and artist developing a body of work that brings functional pottery and tile to life with rich political and cultural content. Learn more about Forrest and his work at: www.flmceramics.com

Christopher Vibberts is a producer and film composer whose work can be heard in many award-winning short, animated, documentary, and feature-length films, as well as campaigns for AAA, Honda, Marriott, Lagunitas, Beats by Dr. Dre, ESPN, Sector 9, Subway, National Geographic, & many others. He currently records & performs with David J (Love and Rockets/Bauhaus) playing sitar, guitar, keyboards, lap steel, Melodica, and flute and releases ambient music under the name of Chrystal Für.