Polia Pillin

Polia Pillin, née Sukonic, or Sunockin 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.

Pillin attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Jewish People's Institute in Chicago. 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. Exhibition of ceramic painting, Circle in the Square Theater in Greenwich Village, New York City, October 1955