About the Artist
For over three decades, Clay Burnette has explored the aesthetic possibilities of coiled basketry. After gathering local longleaf pine needles, Burnette uses them in their natural form or dyes and paints them before weaving them into a coil that is stitched together with waxed linen thread, copper or brass wire or telephone wire. The finished product is then infused with a preservative coating of beeswax and paraffin and signed with the artist’s initials.
His work has been exhibited in over 200 events such as the Smithsonian Craft Show, SOFA (Sculpture, Objects and Functional Art) New York, SOFA Chicago, Philadelphia Craft Show, Atlanta Craft Show and the Charlotte Craft Show.
In 2000, his work was selected for inclusion in two significant exhibitions: Contemporary International Basketry, which opened in Manchester, England and toured the United Kingdom for two years; and 100 Years/100 Artists: Views of the 20th Century in SC Art, exhibited at the SC State Museum. He was the 1987 recipient of the SC Arts Commission’s Craft Fellowship and is included in numerous public and private collections including Columbia Museum of Art, The Mint Museum of Craft + Design, SC History Center, SC State Art Collection, and the SC State Museum.
His works have been included in numerous printed publications including Contemporary International Basketmaking; Baskets: Tradition and Beyond; 500 Baskets; and Craft in America: Celebrating the Creative Work of the Hand. His most recent work can be seen in Tradition/Innovation: American Masterpieces of Southern Craft & Traditional Art, a regional exhibition that is currently touring the southeastern US.
A native of Dalton, GA, Clay resides in Columbia, SC, where he splits his time between kayaking, coiling baskets, weaving scarves and arts administration. More of his work can be viewed at: