Brian Rochefort

Brian Rochefort’s ceramic sculptures resemble eruptions of matter, informed by the history of abstract painting but distinctly contemporary in approach. Formed through repeated firings, each sculpture accrues thick strata of glaze that crack, ooze, and crystallize, producing surfaces that appear molten in some places and brittle in others. These accumulations evoke volcanic rock, coral reefs, or meteorite fragments but exist as autonomous forms, defined as much by process as by material. 

Rochefort’s practice is grounded in sustained observation of the natural world. He draws on a lifelong interest in geology, ecology, and the fragile systems of remote environments, translating impressions of place into objects that function as sculptural portraits. The works’ exteriors—eroded, fissured, and iridescent—contrast with interiors that glisten like lava pools or tropical waters. Each vessel embodies a tension between fragility and force, control and chance, echoing the precarious beauty of natural phenomena without resorting to literal representation. The works on view in Made in L.A. 2025 draw on Rochefort’s travels in the Bolivian and Peruvian Amazon and East Africa. The resulting sculptures register his encounters with the landscapes of these regions in clay, privileging memory and experience over literal likeness.

Brian Rochefort was born in 1985 in Lincoln, Rhode Island. Drawing inspiration from excursions to remote landscapes such as the Amazon, Rochefort works with clay to create abstract, organic sculptures. Recent solo exhibitions include Bernier / Eliades Gallery, Athens (2025, 2021); Sean Kelly Gallery, Los Angeles (2024); Van Doren Waxter, New York (2024, 2022, 2019); The Little House, Los Angeles (2023); SOCO Gallery, Charlotte, NC (2023); Massimo de Carlo, Hong Kong (2022), Milan (2021), and London (2019); Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, CA (2019); Sorry We’re Closed Gallery, Brussels (2018); and the Mistake Room, Guadalajara, Mexico (2019). Recent group exhibitions include Sean Kelly Gallery, New York (2025); Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles (2025, 2023, 2021); Kasmin Gallery, New York (2023); Patricia Low Contemporary, Gstaad, Switzerland (2023); The Pit, Los Angeles (2023); Massimo de Carlo, Beijing (2023); Fondation Villa Datris, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France (2022); Montpellier Contemporain, France (2022); Tristan Hoare, London (2021); Blum & Poe, Los Angeles (2021); Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, Villa Sauber, Monaco (2020); Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento (2019); and Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles (2018). Rochefort earned a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence (2007).