Polia Pillin, néeSukonic, or Sunockin (September 1, 1909 – July 25, 1992), was a Polish-born American ceramist. She is known for her modernist ceramics and pottery with painted images.
Early life and education
Polia Pillin was born as Polia Sukonic in 1909, in Częstochowa, Poland. She was Jewish. She immigrated to the United States in 1924, and settled in Chicago, Illinois.
In 1927, she met and married Jewish Ukrainian immigrant William Pillin, who also worked as a potter, artist, and poet. They lived near Albuquerque, New Mexico, from 1936 to 1940; Chicago from 1940 to 1948; and finally Los Angeles, California, from 1946 until their deaths.
Career
In her early career, she worked as a painter. Her first solo exhibition was in 1947, at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Pillin used engobe and glaze techniques to create mid-century motifs painted onto hand-thrown pottery such as pots, vases, plates, bowls, etc., with the majority of subjects involving women, horses, cats, fishes, and other animals. She produced most of her work from her home studio, called the Pillin Art Pottery Company, which was set up in the family's garage in Los Angeles. Decorated pieces of Pillin pottery generally sell for $350–$4,000 in 2017.
123456789Hughes, Edan Milton (2002). Artists in California, 1786-1940. San Francisco, CA: Hughes Publishing Company.
↑Bilsland, William M. “Emerging From the Shadows: A Survey of Women Artists Working in California, 1860-1960.” In Emerging From the Shadows: A Survey of Women Artists Working in California, 1860-1960, 3:858–69. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2015.
