CrossLypka, cott-wish ⏤ detail, glazed ceramic
CrossLypka
Is the collaborative practice of Oakland-based artists Tyler Cross (b. 1992, Lancaster, CA) and Kyle Lypka (b. 1987, Philadelphia, PA), who have been working together in ceramics for over a decade. Their sculptural practice is rooted in a deep engagement with form, materiality, and collaboration, exploring the tension between representation and abstraction.
Their works typically begin with Cross’s drawings, which possess the elegance of font characters or arcane symbols—visually suggestive yet devoid of linguistic signification. Lypka then translates these glyph-like sketches into three-dimensional forms, shaping them by hand in clay. The results range from freestanding figures to wall-mounted slabs and even architecturally scaled installations. Finally, Cross inflects the surfaces with an improvisational application of fluid, colored glaze, which Lypka fires in the kiln, embracing the unpredictable transformations that occur in the process.
Their works typically begin with Cross’s drawings, which possess the elegance of font characters or arcane symbols—visually suggestive yet devoid of linguistic signification. Lypka then translates these glyph-like sketches into three-dimensional forms, shaping them by hand in clay. The results range from freestanding figures to wall-mounted slabs and even architecturally scaled installations. Finally, Cross inflects the surfaces with an improvisational application of fluid, colored glaze, which Lypka fires in the kiln, embracing the unpredictable transformations that occur in the process.
CrossLypka’s work constitutes an alphabet of forms—though rarely are shapes repeated. Read together, their sculptures form a refutation of literality, existing instead in a space of visual uncertainty and open interpretation. Among the youngest artists in this exhibition, they stand in opposition to their generation’s absorption in (and alienation through) online media, where meaning is increasingly dictated by recognizable signs and references with diminishing returns. Instead, CrossLypka generates new forms and newly inchoate information through their idiosyncratic sculpture.
At the heart of CrossLypka’s practice is an embrace of material resistance. Clay, with its inherent memory, shifts and twists as it dries, resisting absolute control. Glazes, applied with a balance of precision and improvisation, melt, pool, and run unpredictably in the kiln. This interplay between control and surrender mirrors their collaborative process—where neither artist fully dominates the work, but rather, they allow form, material, and chance to shape the outcome.
“The materials we use are important because of the innate resistance they have, but through their resistance, they seduce you.”
“The materials we use are important because of the innate resistance they have, but through their resistance, they seduce you.”
Through these methods, CrossLypka challenges the increasing dematerialization and alienation of contemporary life, reinforcing art as a tangible, bodily experience. Their practice is an act of resistance against a world where so much is reduced to the digital and immaterial.
Through their collaborative process, CrossLypka continues to push the boundaries of ceramics, creating a language of forms that is at once intuitive, enigmatic, and deeply physical.
Through their collaborative process, CrossLypka continues to push the boundaries of ceramics, creating a language of forms that is at once intuitive, enigmatic, and deeply physical.
Despite the visual poetry of their work, CrossLypka approaches titling with irreverence and playfulness. Rather than assigning concrete meaning, they compile lists of intriguing words, combining them into titles that function more like short poems than literal descriptions.
“For us, titling is always tough because the works has so little to do with information or language that it feels false putting words to them. Titles have their function, but they are more like a very short poem than anything else”
