A Southern California native, Angela de Mott began her career as a painter. Her art is both organic and abstract, reflecting a keen affinity with nature. She received her BA from Scripps College, Claremont, CA, followed by graduate work at the University of Iowa. Moving next to Europe for four years, de Mott pursued her career in Zurich and London. She showed in numerous exhibitions, including a solo show at Galerie Prisma in Zurich.

Returning to Los Angeles in 1976, de Mott continued painting and printmaking. By 1990 she wanted to work in a multi-dimensional medium, which brought her to ceramics. Quickly drawn to the experimental nature of Raku, she chose it as her primary focus and became a ceramist.

Reflecting the elusive Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, Raku provides spontaneity and an absence of predictability, serving as a foil for the carefully crafted vessels that deMott hand builds. Sculpturally, their form is simple and asymmetrical, pushing the limits with their thin walls. Her influences include the glazes of ancient East Asian ceramics, as well as the aesthetics of Modernism.

In spring, 2007, de Mott had a solo exhibition at the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts in Ojai, CA, and was awarded an Artist's Residency. There, de Mott researched luster firing using Wood's library, studio, and kilns, seeking ways to incorporate luster with Raku. Luster firing has added another dimension to her work. Now it has come full circle: de Mott approaches color in her ceramics as she did in painting by using layered glazes, and turning to multiple firing to achieve organic, earthy surfaces.

Venues where the artist has shown include del Mano, Craft and Folk Art Museum and the Fowler Museum Store in Los Angeles, Gump’s in San Francisco, and The Collector’s Gallery of the Mingei International Museum in San Diego. De Mott's ceramics are found in private and public collections, including those of Forrest Merrill in Berkeley, CA, Scripps College, Claremont, CA, the American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA, the Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, Alabama, the Wilfred Davis Fletcher Collection, Palos Verdes, CA, and the Alfreda and Sam Maloof Foundation, Alta Loma, CA. Her studio and home are in Santa Monica, CA.

PUBLICATIONS

Profile: Angela de Mott '71, Alumnae in the Visual Arts, Scripps College, Claremont, CA, 2008    (Link)

Up Front, Ceramics Monthly, 4/07 (Reproductions)

The Stellar Legacy of Beatrice Wood, Craft Arts International No. 68, by Kevin Wallace, 2006 (Reproduction)

The Visionaries, Suzanne Muchnic, Scripps Magazine, Fall 2006

Celebrating Nature: Craft Traditions/Contemporary Expressions, exhibition catalog by Kevin Wallace, 2004  (Reproduction)

A Revolution in Clay, Suzanne Muchnic, Los Angeles Times, 2/29/04

Standing Room Only, 2004 Scripps 60th Ceramic Annual, exhibition catalog (Reproduction on cover)

Journey Into Art, catalog, 2002 (Reproduction)

Up Front, Ceramics Monthly,12/96 (Reproduction)

Best Bet, Westside Calendar, Los Angeles Times, 7/28/96 (Reproduction)

AWARDS

2012

2007

Nebulae Vessel purchased by the Scripps College Collectors' Circle for the permanent collection

Artist in Residence, Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, Ojai, CA

2003

Commission for Limited Edition of 5 sculptures for Distinguished Alumna Award, Scripps College

SELECTED  EXHIBITIONS

2008

Diversity in Clay, American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA

Beatrice Wood Ceramic Annual, Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, Ojai, CA

Celebrating California Clay, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, Alabama

2007

Angela de Mott: Raku Vessels, Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, Ojai, CA

Extreme Clay, American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA

Art Auction XII/Exhibition, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA

2006

Looking at Art, LAX, Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, curated by Scott Canty, Los Angeles

Currents: Contemporary California Clay, Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, Ojai, CA

Mastercraft 2006, Gump's, San Francisco

Beatrice Wood Ceramic Annual, Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, Ojai, CA

2005

California Visions Exhibition and Art Auction XI, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA

Mastercraft 2005, Gump's, San Francisco

Present Art XII, Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles

2004

Standing Room Only, 2004 Scripps 60th Ceramic Annual, Williamson Gallery, Scripps College, Claremont, CA

Celebrating Nature: Contemporary Expressions, Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles

Mastercraft 2004, Gump's, San Francisco

Present Art XI, Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles

2003

Clay for 2003, Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles

Clay and Glass, Burbank Municipal Art Gallery, Burbank, CA

2002

Present Art IX, Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles

Journey into Art, LA Artcore 13th Annual Awards Benefit, Los Angeles

LA Artists/LA Collectors: Contemporary Ceramics, LAX, curated by Kevin Wallace, Los Angeles

2001

Vessels in Clay: Beatrice Wood and Angela de Mott, Craft and Folk Art Museum Shop, Los Angeles

2000

Pacific Overtures: Inspirations from the Far East, Folk Tree Collection, Pasadena, CA

1999

California Clay, del Mano Gallery, Pasadena, CA

1996

Vessels and Visions in Clay: Rupert Deese, Angela de Mott, Frank Romero, and Peter Shire, Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles

1989

Rosequist Gallery, Tucson, AZ

1988

Taking Liberties, Loyola Law School Art Gallery, Los Angeles

1988

Art Rental and Sales Gallery, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles

1981

Solo Exhibition, Santa Barbara Savings and Loan, Beverly Hills

1979

LAICA Group Show, Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

1976

USA 200 Art Exhibition, Finalist, London

1975

The London Group Exhibition, Camden Arts Centre, London

Hampstead Artists' Council Exhibition, Camden Arts Centre, London

Chelsea Arts Society Exhibition, Chenil Gallery, London

1974

Solo Exhibition, Galerie Prisma,  Zurich