Peter Lane’s large-scale murals

Peter Lane is a New York-based ceramic artist that specializes in large-scale, customized architectural installations. The self-taught artist also designs beautiful monumental furniture and decorative work. Everything is done in a 10,000-square-foot studio in Brooklyn with a talented crew that is fully capable of massive sculptural expressions.

Some have described Lane’s work as the intersection between design and art; and they are indeed correct. The artist has been commissioned to design large-scale installations for some of the world’s leading interior designers, luxury boutiques, and opulent hotels.

Lane says that he found his “calling in ceramics” late in life. Since then, the designer has been successful at developing his own unique style… becoming known as a (courtesy of One Hundred Edition), “revolutionary in bas-relief” artist. A chance trip to a Miami ceramics flea market inspired Lane to take a pottery class in 1994. Immediately, the Oak Park, Illinois native was hooked.

With a Brutalist aesthetic, Lane’s imagery mimics “nature at it’s most brutal, primal, and sensual, utilizing rough-hewn and hand-wrought direct techniques that take advantage of the character of the earth itself.” His hope is that each piece has a “presence.”

Clearly, Lane fully understands the material, as well as the technical challenges and the methods necessary for success. The ceramic artist has (courtesy of Daniella on Design), “transcended ceramic art, reorienting it towards architecture, merging art, design, and spaces.”

Ceramics have taken center stage; and the works that Lane creates are different in that they have intensely textured surfaces… they often resemble crusty lava. Aged bronze and corrugated steel is the end result. Further unique to Lane is that he often adds ornamentation in the relief. Sometimes the elements added are floral and at other times, celestial bodies are can be found in the large-scale ceramic installations that Lane and his crew create.

Lane has a wide range of distinctive finishing glazes that range from deep charcoal to creamy white. The artist’s palette of glazes include those based on metals such as bronze and cobalt; this is what gives his pieces a metallic appearance. Perhaps the most unique is the celadon blue that he used in his most ambitious project to date. This installation wraps around the pool of one of Paris’ keystone hotels.

Part of Lane’s magic is that he has always been fascinated with “everything and anything Japan.” In such, he has spent years perfecting and the personalizing traditional Japanese ceramic techniques. With his own mix of sands, his clay employs a unique texture.

Lane has remained steadfast to the idea that there is little difference between the practical and the decorative. This notion comes from his study of Japan and the ceramics art form that is unique to the country’s artists. This guiding principle flows right into Lane’s idea that (courtesy of Architectural Digest), “I love monumentality. When there’s scale, the piece has much more impact.”

Let’s close out with this last quote from Lane (courtesy of Galerie Magazine), “I’m not the first person to do ceramic murals at this scale, but I think I’ve created something more powerfully sculptural.”