DIAHN OTT STUDIO

Diahn Ott is a potter and painter who lives and works in Knoxville, Tennessee. A former geologist, her work reflects her love of the outdoors and the beauty that can be found in the simplest of materials. Her distinctive style combines the raw beauty of clay with elegant glazing techniques and paintings that make each pot a singular work of art.

Delicate wildflowers and geometric patterns are recurring themes in her work, along with the ubiquitous skulls connecting each piece. As the artist explains, “The fascination with skulls started with my work at the Natural History Museum at the University of Alabama when I was a graduate student. Bones of animals from millions of years ago were the obvious signs of past lives on our planet, while delicate flowers and plants of that time were rarely preserved. I love the idea of combining the two on a pot – the ephemeral and the permanent.”

Ott’s work has been shown in the exhibition at the Let Her Speak Women’s Summit at Knoxville Botanical Gardens in 2022, the April 2023 Terra Madre group exhibit at Mighty Mud in Knoxville, the November/December 2023 ceramic show “Fragile,” at Dogwood Arts Gallery in Knoxville, Tennessee and the January, 2024 ceramics show at the Emporium Center in Knoxville Tennessee. Her work is on display in The Curio at Maker Exchange in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, and can be found in the gift shop at the Knoxville Museum of Art. She is a member of Terra Madre-Women in Clay and the Foothills Craft Guild.