Hailey Piché: A Glimpse of the Artist Behind the Work
As Troy Bungart Studios hosts a Michiana Pottery Tour stop for the first time, we wanted to introduce everyone to the guest artists visiting us at the 2025 Michiana Pottery Tour September 27 & 28, 2025 here in Three Rivers, Michigan.
Ceramic artist Hailey Piché talks with Troy Bungart Studios about her work in advance of the 2025 Michiana Pottery Tour
The Michiana Pottery Tour prides itself on recognizing and representing worthy up-and-coming ceramic artists. Meet recent graduate Hailey Piché. Hailey graduated with a BA from Bowling Green State University (OH) in Ceramics AND Psychology. Consider this your first clue that there are depths of complexity to both Hailey Piché and the work she does.
The great news is that the work Hailey does is imbued with a overt sense of fun. She says she recognizes her type of collectors have arrived at her booth because they tend to have bright personalities and get “super stoked” by her work, being drawn in by the fluid forms and bright colors.
Hailey Piché’s decorative maker’s mark is her last name incised and glazed in “balloon letters.”
Hailey signs her work with “balloon letters” that she incises and glazes on the bottom of her ceramic ware with so much care that it seems a shame not to exhibit her work upside down to enjoy her maker’s mark.
Yes, her clay work rewards those who take the time to fully appreciate all the artistry and craftsmanship she puts into it. Her work is playful, a layered patchwork of pattern, color and texture. In fact, because of the handbuilding technique she uses to create texture, one could literally say her “fingerprints” are all over it.
Closeup detail of a pitcher by ceramic artist Hailey Piché
Hailey’s forms and surfaces undoubtedly have visual appeal. She fires in an atmospheric soda kiln that “does its thing” by vaporizing powdered soda so it can settle on the ceramic surfaces to form an impenetrable sheen that coats the painted clay like a glaze. Another layer of complexity added.
Now look deeper. Underneath what you see is the special care she takes to ensure each piece remains completely functional. Hailey commits herself to the utilitarian nature of her medium, taking special care, for example, that the handles she adds to her vessels maintain a comfortable sense of balance. She wants her work to be both beautiful and useful.
Discussing the ceramic art she makes, Hailey often returns to the concept of duality in the nature of her work. When asked to identify her style she suggests that “Modern” and, maybe even “Pop Art” could apply, but so could “Rustic,” as if her work has an energy that contradicts itself. It is what it is, and, seemingly, it captures the sense of a work in progress. For example, because Hailey doesn’t like to eat vegetables, she sometimes paints vegetables on her vessels in the hope that she can convince herself to love them so much that she will be eager to include them in her diet! It hasn’t worked very well so far, although she admits she nibbles raw carrots upon occasion.
“Why clay and not another artistic medium?” we ask. Hailey’s answer is, again, dynamic: She likes to fidget.
You know that scene from “Pretty in Pink” (Hailey’s favorite movie) where Iona is stapling vinyl records to the ceiling and talking to Molly (Iona? Molly? another study in contrasts!), well, Hailey thinks her work belongs in that scene. She can see Iona shooting staples around so they end up falling into one of her vessels sitting there on the counter. A work in progress, indeed.
Ceramic artist Hailey Piché paints designs on her hand-crafted vessels.
When we invited Hailey Piché to be a guest ceramic artist at the Three Rivers stop of this year’s Michiana Pottery Tour she was living in Kalamazoo, pursuing post-baccalaureate studies at Western Michigan University after her apprenticeship with John Balistreri at Bowling Green and a stint teaching at the Delaware Arts Castle. We’ve since learned that one needs to connect with Hailey where and when one can because she’s recently moved to the Cincinnati, Ohio area to be an artist in residence at Queen City Clay. This means she has switched from being the guest artist we invited who lived closest to us to being the artist who will need to travel the farthest to come to our stop on the pottery tour! Having gotten to know Hailey through this interview, the irony is almost … to be expected?
Be sure to stop by Troy Bungart Studios September 27 and 28 to catch Hailey and buy her work. We’re not sure where all the places are that life’s going to lead her, but, wherever she is, the people there, like us, are lucky to have her.
