Chris Nappo ’27 never needs to buy another bowl – he can make one himself.
After taking a ceramics class in high school, Nappo discovered a passion for making pottery. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he had to get creative. In the midst of lockdown, Nappo pursued his pottery interests by learning the craft through continual practice and watching YouTube videos.
“When COVID hit, I got a wheel at home and kind of made my own makeshift studio and it really just took off from there,” Nappo said. “I had always loved working with my hands, and then I finally found my big passion that really stuck with me in ninth grade.”
Now, Nappo works in the studio in the Williams Visual Arts Building. He shares his artwork with others by creating pieces for commission and selling his work at fairs. This week, Nappo had the opportunity to showcase his work at the Dyer Center’s Student Side Hustle Fair, an event meant to showcase student-run businesses, in the Farinon Atrium.
However, Easton isn’t the only market for Nappo. During the pandemic, he sold some of his work online.
“Someone online asked me if I can make them a little set of mugs, and I shipped them, funny enough, all the way to Alaska,” Nappo said.
Nappo aspires to do consignment work at Three Birds Cafe. He also hopes to partner with Remy Oktay ’24 by making ceramic pen holders for Oktay’s pen-turning organization, Laf Quill Co.
Nappo’s work is truly a labor of love, and he finds inspiration from speaking to others about their own.
“I probably spent over a thousand hours with my craft just pouring hundreds of hours into my work, meeting new people, talking to people, getting inspired,” Nappo said.
However, Nappo is not in this pursuit for the money. His craft comes first; selling the work is merely an afterthought.
“I don’t like making work that just sells,” Nappo said. “I don’t really like that ethos. I just make work for myself, work that I like, and then, if I think it’s good enough, I’ll put it out into the world.”
Pieces currently featured on Nappo’s pottery website, chrisnappoceramics.com, include an assortment of jars, bowls and pitchers carefully glazed in shades of blue and brown.
“I think that he has a really distinct and unique style in the best way possible,” Kendall Shaw ‘26, the owner of a Chris Nappo original, said. “I think aesthetically, it’s beautiful … I think that draws a lot of audiences in that is that it’s not only a beautiful piece of art, but it’s also useful and can be used for many other reasons.”
