Michael 🫧

Porcelain vase in the shape of three fish with cherry blossoms and orchid blooms

Fish vase made of porcelain with orchids in a lizard planter.

Large celadon vase of three fish.

年年有余 🎏 马到成功 🦄 新年快乐 🙏
In Chinese the word for fish sounds like the word for abundance, so fish can symbolize prosperity. Wishing for an abundant and peaceful year of the horse.

“Technology is not separate from a mythology… In modern science a ‘fact’ is perceivable because of a background of myth... Through myth a cumulative body of knowledge would be passed on, and the means for passing it on would be a story.” — William Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light

Table full of ceramic masks within a gallery display.

Additional photograph of a ceramic mask display in a gallery context.

Looking back at the work from last year, thankful for the opportunity to show some of my work at Offit Gallery.

YouTube video by Michael Headrick Exhibition Interview: Michael Headrick on Exploring the Ground of Being: Ceramics & Depth Psychology

Late last year I opened my first solo exhibition in ceramics and depth psychology. My focus was on "Exploring the Ground of Being," a term that acknowledges my inner psychological process as well as my practice with clay. This video dives deeper into my work and some of the thinking behind the work.

What is Required to Bloom a Narcissus Flower? — Michael Headrick In the myth of Narcissus and Echo we see the fulfillment of a development of consciousness that arced from Gilgamesh to Freud; and within the Narcissus flower, we can find the foreshadowing of a comin...

Related to my essay from a few years ago!

Love and narcissism: A conversation with Susan E. Schwartz, PhD Sameness, fantasy, perfectionism, and the challenges of connection in a Jungian exploration of Narcissus in the modern world.

Great conversation on Echo and Narcissus

As I conducted this research, I realized the ways that this work has tied together so many of my various areas of interests: group dynamics, art making in ceramics, psychodynamic theory, creativity, etc.

Inspired by my own practice with ceramics and dream work, this qualitative research points to additional ways that we can explore unconscious material and build connection and empathy within groups beyond verbal dialogue.

Earlier this month I submitted my Master’s Integrative Project (IP) as the final step to fulfill the requirements for my MA in Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Bingo card with goal statements inside each square, colored by category: academic, artistic, body, lifestyle, sensuality.

For much of my life I’ve been a big to-do list person, and New Year’s resolutions were no exception. This year I’m trying something new: goal bingo! From IG examples, I created my own to try to find a framework that’s less all-or-nothing. 👩🏻‍💻

I love the illustrations!

Hang in there!!! The academic semester hangover is real!

It’s feeling a little strange being at the end of such a busy semester: I was working almost all day every day on my masters thesis work… and on a pretty large solo show. Now I’m just trying to soak up the feeling of not having anything to do.

Man sitting at a desk with a cup of coffee and journal

Hello from Taiwan!

Thank you so much Lola, I appreciate our interactions here too!

Artist portrait in front of ceramic monster and fish sculptures

Very thankful for this year and the work I've had the privilege to pursue. My work in clay has given me so much, more than I can know. "Exploring the Ground of Being" was my first solo exhibition, and it has opened up new ways of seeing myself and my own process.
Filled with gratitude and hope.

Today’s the last day to see this show in New York!
We have to uninstall early due to some gallery issues over the holidays. DM me if you plan on stopping by.

Man in beanie in a snowy forest.

Thankful for the life I’m building for myself. One year ago I was freshly out of a relationship, grieving the life I lost but also moving back to myself. This past year has been transformative in so many ways.

Putting away most recent ceramic sculpture, “Monster Family Growing,” as we close up shop for the holidays.

Stoneware, MD Shino Glaze and Tenmoku

#sculpture #ceramics

Table with large stoneware monster sculpture and some small porcelain bowls with MD Shino glaze.

Table with multiple porcelain monster sculptures.

Last ceramic review in my masters degree at Teachers College-I hopefully graduate in February!
(Fewer works than usual because they’re all in the my exhibition!)

Masters thesis is at about 15,000 words… time to start cutting it down???

I also felt like I was in narnia!

Exactly what I had in mind too 😅

Photo of a snowy park scene with a lamp post.

Snow day in New York!

Slides from my Artist Talk: Exploring the Ground of Being CERAMICS & DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY 2025 | MICHAEL HEADRICK We get messages from time to time from the unconscious: dreams, fantasies, intuitions, visions and so on; and it is from these that we draw the conclusion of a psychical existence in ourselves which is totally different to our conscious mind. - CARL JUNG, "MODERN PSYCHOLOGY" Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, - 1500, oil on oak panels, Musco del Prado, Madrid

Last night I gave an Artist Talk at Columbia University for my show, “Exploring the Ground of Being”
There’s still time to see the show: open until Dec 22!

Why am I getting Dalek ???

Love the glaze! Is it a copper red?

Choosing "no contact" is saying: I will no longer play this given role while being emotionally estranged and left without emotional contact. Relationships are built on connection and care, not duty. Choosing "no contact" with hurtful relationships is telling oneself: I deserve connection and care.

Estrangement is the opposite of connection or relationality. It's important to note here that some people who make the decision to be "no contact" were already emotionally estranged from the parent or family system... sometimes for their entire lives (speaking from experience).

Oprah recently did a podcast on the topic of adult children choosing "no contact" with family members. I didn't listen to the episode, but in clips I felt that sometimes the language used focused on parents being "estranged" from children; as if the child was upsetting the family dynamic.