‘The island seeps into my work’

Susanna Kopchains’ hands are never still.

 

Whether at home or in her studio, they roll, pinch, and mold clay into mugs, bowls, and sculptures that feel as alive as the marshes she can see from her Daniel Island window.

 

“Living by the water, marshes and sand have influenced my color palette, incorporating more blues, greens, and shades of tan,” she said. “It’s like the island seeps into my work without me even thinking about it.”

 

Kopchains didn’t start out making sculptures. Her first pieces were functional pottery: cups and bowls meant to be held, to warm hands on a chilly morning.

 

“Quite a few hours go into the making of a handmade mug,” she explained. “From forming the body on the wheel, shaping and attaching the handle, letting it dry slowly so cracks don’t appear, to bisque firing, glazing, and a final firing. Each mug is unique; a part of me is in it. I’d like to think that when people use my mugs, they associate them with me.”

 

Over time, her work began to shift. Functional ware still has a place in her studio, but sculpture offers something a cup cannot: freedom.

 

“Creating sculptural work has allowed me to be freer as well as allowing me to express feelings and emotions in ways that I wasn’t able to do with a mug or bowl,” she said. Some pieces emerge from life-changing events, others from fleeting moods – each one a subtle invitation for the viewer to pause, ponder, and interpret.

 

Nature remains her compass. She’s drawn to textures, asymmetry, and the aged beauty of worn surfaces. Finger marks linger in a mug’s glaze; edges of a sculpture appear ragged and delicate. Her pieces are tactile stories, speaking to the imperfection and transience of life itself.

 

Kopchains also experiments with how her art is seen. Some sculptures hang from walls; others float from ceilings. “It allows the viewer to take it in from a different perspective,” she said. Her background in graphic design informs each choice, from symmetry and balance to how glazes highlight a piece’s form.

 

Collecting ceramics remains a personal passion, and seeing others collect hers is equally meaningful.

 

“I feel that people who collect my mugs get to have a piece of me in their home, just as my collection feels like I have parts of these artists in my home.”

 

From her Daniel Island abode, Kopchains is now exploring monoprinting, brushwork, and new underglaze techniques, all while continuing to create functional pottery.

 

“I hope that my art brings a sense of joy, peace, and maybe a little enlightenment,” she said. “Each person will take away something different. I don’t necessarily like to spell out what I am trying to convey; I want the viewer to make up their own mind.”