< ECU Directory

Justin Novak

Associate Professor

Availability:

Education:

BFA, Communications Design, Pratt Institute
MFA, State University of New York, New Paltz

Bio

Justin Novak is an artist and an Associate Professor of Art at ECU. Justin worked for 17 years as a freelance illustrator in New York City, for a range of book, newspaper, and magazine publishers. A second career followed, as an exhibiting artist working primarily with ceramic and drawing media.

Websites:

Research Interests

Justin Novak's research interests span illustration and ceramics. Having trained as an illustrator and worked as a freelance illustrator (whose clients have included The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Macmillan Publishing, HarperCollins, Tor Books and the Book-of-the-Month Club), his work has since shifted mostly to small-scale experimental projects, recently in collaboration with Lodger, an intermedia exhibition and event space, small press and communal dining hub. His work in ceramics has ranged from figurative sculpture to tableware. Much of this has been initiated or developed within international residency programs, including the Kohler Factory in Wisconsin, the Wałbrzych Factory in Wałbrzych, Poland, the Arabia Factory in Helsinki, the International Ceramic Research Center at Guldagergaard in Skælskør, Denmark and the National Workshops of Art and Crafts in Copenhagen.

Courses

Course Name Department Course Code Term
Ceramics CRAM 303 26/SU

Description

This course varies in topic from section to section, and is repeatable for credit provided that the thematic topic has changed. Because Ceramics spans a wide range of processes and skills, and traverses the realms of contemporary art, as well as the applied and decorative arts, the curriculum necessitates diversification. Students will develop their craft while responding to a specific cultural context or the unique implications of one approach to the medium. Merging critical inquiry with manual skill-building, this course will integrate a specialized focus with an investigation of broader poetic concerns of ceramic practice. Topics will span sculptural approaches, utilitarian design, and practices that bridge both.

Each section of this course runs with a different topic. See here .

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.

Industrial Design INDD 330 26/SU

Description

This course explores the concepts and materials of ceramics as they relate to studio practice. Assigned projects provide expanded learning of materials, equipment, techniques and processes of ceramics, with an emphasis on the concepts and contexts of contemporary ceramics, and a focus on personal work and individual exploration. Self-directed projects included determining the core concepts and intents of the work and the choice of techniques, materials and type of firings. Participation in group activities such as critiques, lectures, presentations and demonstrations form an integral part of this course.

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.

Ceramics CRAM 208 26/SU

Description

Students will develop their craft while responding to a specific cultural context or the unique implications of one approach to the medium. Merging critical inquiry with manual skill-building, this course will integrate a specialized focus with an investigation of broader poetic concerns of ceramic practice. Topics will vary in topic from section to section, and will span sculptural approaches, utilitarian design, and practices that bridge both.

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.