Patrick Bell was born in Reisterstown, Maryland and grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He received his BFA from Edinboro University and subsequently spent two years studying Ceramics at Wichita State University. After completing his MFA at Kent State University Patrick moved back to Maryland where he accepted the 2022-23 Lormina Salter Fellowship at Baltimore Clayworks.

Artist Statement:

I create entities that materialize my relationship to health and the anxieties that surround it. Mental illness as well as mal-adaptive and destructive self-soothing strategies manifest themselves in fingers, organs, torsos, and other locations inside and out of the human body. While the whole body is occasionally present in my work, more often, parts or pieces of myself are highlighted as areas of disorder where body focused repetitive behaviors are concentrated. These behaviors and their consequences emphasize the importance of understanding my biopsychosocial health and my work aims to dissect and discern the source of these habits.