When we first took notice of Los Angeles ceramicist Morgan Peck in 2012, it was because she had suddenly become ubiquitous in the concept-shop scene, with her vessels and abstract mini-sculptures popping up at all of our favorite places (Mociun, Totokaelo, Iko Iko). Now that she’s moved into an entirely new territory — the art world — with the opening of her solo show at LA’s Jancar Jones Gallery last week, we figured it was the perfect time to revisit her work. We asked Peck for her thoughts on her change of scenery, and how her sculptures have made the transition from shelf to plinth. “When Ava and Eric offered me the opportunity to have a show at Jancar Jones last February, the first thing I thought was: Are you sure? I’m interested in the functional side of ceramics and design in general, so I didn’t know why someone from the art world was interested in what I make. But apprehensions aside, I was very excited to have the full run of a clean and classic gallery space.

“Since I’m usually operating on a 6-foot craft-fair table or at an easy-to-ship weight, I haven’t had a chance to make sculptures or vases on a larger scale before. I’ve always made small sculptures, usually from scraps of another project. For the show, I wanted to make them larger and also to expose the construction needed to make them larger. So often that is closed off on the inside, but I really love to see how something is standing, or how weight is being distributed. Also, the vases are much larger than the vases I usually make, and the clay is thicker, too. I love the weight of them; the clay has a lot of sand in it and reminds me of sandstone more than ceramics. I like objects that can work equally well on a table or standing on the floor alone. I think that shows the strength of an object — that it doesn’t need something next to it or under it to look good. It can just be itself.”

Morgan Peck runs through July 19 at Jancar Jones