Bryan Santamaría:

Little Desert

One Day Pop-Up Exhibition
Sunday, November 9, 10 AM–3 PM

Artist Talk: 11:00 AM

Please join us for the artist talk on November 9 at 11am. Strawberries, chocolates, and coffee will be served. RSVP by clicking the button below or emailing info@craigkrullgallery.com.

Craig Krull Gallery is pleased to present Little Desert, an exhibition of hand-built ceramic vessels paired with succulents and rare cacti by Los Angeles–based artist Bryan Santamaría. 

For more than two decades, Bryan Santamaría has lived and worked in Los Angeles, cultivating a deep dialogue with the land around him—from the wild canyons of the Santa Monica Mountains to the desert expanses of California and beyond. His practice bridges two lifelong devotions: the care of extraordinary plants and the shaping of clay. Together, they become living sculptures—each pairing a one-of-a-kind vessel with a unique cactus or succulent specimen, staged with reverence and emotion.

Santamaría’s approach to ceramics is intuitive and tactile. He works primarily with natural tools—many of them found, gifted, or hand-modified: a shell from Bali, a sharp stone fitted into a young coconut seed (“my tropical shank”), and even an antique spearhead once collected from a Texas riverbed. “I like texture,” he explains. “I use these imperfect objects to mark the surface, opening the piece from within without touching it, and letting the clay express itself.” 

Each vessel emerges as a landscape of its own—stacked, scored, and alive with imperfections that mirror the rugged forms of his plants. Santamaría’s preferred clays–Tecate Gold Sculpture, Black Mountain, Rod’s Bod, and Death Valley– reflect his affinity for earthy tones and coarse, desert-like textures. He rarely glazes his work, instead favoring slip that reveals the natural warmth of the material.

Los Angeles, he says, remains his muse. “Sometimes I drive my motorcycle through desolate canyon roads. I can see the ocean from the mountains. I stop to appreciate rock formations and wildflowers. If I’m lucky, I encounter deer and coyotes. This land is the source of my inspiration.”