Working out of Los Angeles, the artist opened Canopic Studio in 2017 as a means to focus solely on the creation of his own ceramics, having previously cut his teeth working for other artists. His modus operandi is to deconstruct the way we think of functional ceramics.

Many of them are raw and largely unglazed, with blobs of paint pouring from the brim of the object or the eyes and mouth of whatever face is on its side. Utilizing texture to create a three-dimensional and more immersive piece of work - Wedner fundamentally reimagines the way we think of ceramic art by abstracting the various ‘rules’ of the form in the same way as Pollock’s splatter art did six decades ago. 

Wedner is interested in informed composition - citing influences as vast and varied as bronze age archaeology and preserved bog bodies, whose leathery preserved skin, an artefact from the past frozen in time, can clearly be seen as a recurring consistency on the facade of his objects. More of his recent works have been fully glazed, with that sort of teal-green/blue tint that is evocative of old-time ceramics, of ones you might find in your grandmother’s attic.

With disembodied features created as a kind of vaguely symmetrical pattern encircling the various objects, Canopic Studio is now a by-word for weird, yet appealing ceramics. The crybaby faces, a common motif, are now the subject of tattoos by a dedicated following who are eager to buy an original piece when the opportunity arises.

Being sold almost exclusively through Etsy, with promotion a variety of word-of-mouth and Instagram, Wedner’s success is truly online. Physical objects designed for a digital following.