Surface: Ceramic and Wood
Jim Schatz and Peter Souza Jr., 2026
On view September 3 – October 31, 2026
Surface: Ceramic and Wood
Jim Schatz and Peter Souza Jr., 2026
About the Exhibition
A fired surface is the clay body and the glaze meeting in the fire. What you see is what they made of each other. Whatever happened in there is sealed inside the finish, and the finish is both the evidence and the lid.
Peter's wood comes with a life in it already. Watercolor sinks into that, acrylic sits on top, and nothing underneath is gone.
Both were judged by hand long before either was measured. A thumb finds the ridge the eye skips, and weight tells you a form is right before you have a word for why. Everything can be counted now. This cannot, and it is not a lesser way of knowing. It is the older one, and it is still yours.
Neither surface tells you everything. Your hands will get the rest.
Stoneware, Glaze, Wood, Acrylic, Watercolor
The Second Exhibition at Take Me Home
Surface is the second exhibition at Take Me Home, the gallery and design space founded by Jim Schatz and Peter Souza Jr. at the Cadillac Arts Centre in Detroit's Little Village. It follows Radical Presence, the inaugural show, and narrows from the body to the material itself.
The exhibition spans the collection — vessels, lighting, wall works, and sculpture — with pieces selected for what each material does at its outer edge. Everything here was built and finished by hand in Detroit.
Surface opens Thursday, September 3, 5–9 PM, during the Detroit Month of Design opening festival and design crawl. A public open house follows at the Cadillac Arts Centre on Saturday, September 12, 3–8 PM.
Press Contact and Release
Jim Schatz at hello@detroittakemehome.com or 313-454-1777
Surface Installation, photos by Jim Schatz.About the Artists
Jim Schatz founded J Schatz Studio in 2004. The studio creates modern ceramics, lighting, vessels, and sculptural works, combining refined craftsmanship with bold experimentation to produce work that is tactile, luminous, and deeply human. In 2026, Schatz and Peter Souza Jr. — a partner in the studio — opened Take Me Home, their gallery and design space at the Cadillac Arts Centre and the public-facing extension of their studio practice.
by Jim Schatz with J Schatz Studio
A suspended ceramic composition of 34 stoneware orbs in glossy bright white glaze, held in place by hand-knotted jute rope. Each orb is thrown perfectly round and high-fired to 2200°F, where it settles into an imperfect ellipse — a gesture to the handmade nature of ceramics, finished in a flawless white surface. Studio-cast and finished by hand. Numbered and dated by the artist.
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