2018, 48" X 48" X 2", Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Glazed
This installation was inspired by the forms of shelf fungi and the patterns of spore prints. It was a part of a solo exhibition at the Grants Pass Museum of Art titled 'where art & nature meet'.
2018, 48"x48"x2", Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Glazed
This installation was inspired by the forms of shelf fungi and the patterns of spore prints. It was a part of a solo exhibition at the Grants Pass Museum of Art titled 'where art & nature meet'.
2018, 15' x 1' x 1', Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Oxide
This installation was inspired by a particular place in Los Padres National Forest. It was a part of a solo exhibition at the Grants Pass Museum of Art titled 'where art & nature meet'.
2019, varied, Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Oxide
This ephemeral installation was inspired by a particular place in Los Padres National Forest. Each of the pieces are simply balanced on the rock and on each other to make up the composition.
2019, varied, Media: Stoneware, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Oxide
This is a detail image of an ephemeral installation that was inspired by a particular place in Los Padres National Forest. Each of the pieces are simply balanced on the rock and on each other to make up the composition.
2021, largest piece approx. 12" x 12" x 4", Media: Porcelain, Stoneware, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Oxide, Unglazed
These pieces combine the Relic Series and Bone Series | Urchins into hybrid compositions.
2019, varied, Media: Mixed Media, Porcelain, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Unglazed
This is a detail image of two Umbel flower heads adhered to wood stems and displayed as part of the permanent collection at the Fish Factory Residency program in Stoovardfjordur Iceland. They were inspired by the wild Angelica flowers that grow in the region.
2019, varied, Media: Mixed Media, Porcelain, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Unglazed
This is a detail image of an Umbel flower head adhered to a wood stem and installed as an ephemeral installation in a field of angelica flowers outside Stoovardfjordur Iceland.
2020, 9" x 10" x 10", Media: Mixed Media, Porcelain, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Unglazed
This Bone Series inspired piece is made with very thin pieces of nearly translucent porcelain and high temperature wire. The forms are inspired by the structures of pulsating sea creatures, hence their namesake Medusas. It balances on its wire tips giving the piece slight hints of movement and energy.
2020, 9" x 10" x 10", Media: Mixed Media, Porcelain, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Unglazed
This is a detail of the perforated flanges of a Bone Series | Medusa piece that is made with very thin pieces of nearly translucent porcelain and high temperature wire. The forms are inspired by the structures of pulsating sea creatures, hence their namesake Medusas. It balances on its wire tips giving the piece slight hints of movement and energy.
Artist Statement
Jenni Ward's mission is to share the beauty she sees in the natural world through her art. Inspired by biological forms with a particular focus on structures, she finds her time spent connecting to her environment and exploring way above and way below sea level as an integral part of her work. She takes inspiration from those places to create abstract interpretations of forms and structures through thoughtfully crafted ceramic sculptures. Using clay as her primary medium, she builds in parts and assembles the pieces into ephemeral installations in nature, in galleries and as independent objects. Her work plays with the connectivity of the form to its environment and in turn the connectivity of herself to the natural world.
Bio
Jenni Ward is a ceramic sculptor and installation artist, originally from West Orange, New Jersey but currently based in Santa Cruz, California. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Hartford Art School in West Hartford, Connecticut in 1998. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally since then including the de Saisset Museum, the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History and the Grants Pass Museum of Art. She has been invited to residencies around the world, and most recently spent 3 months at the Yingge Ceramics Museum in Taiwan. She has created public art projects in Sweden, Florida and California.She is passionate about working with clay to build abstract forms and installations that reflect the beauty of the natural world and can often be found wondering the forests, mountains or tide pools near her California studio for inspiration. She has a passion for adventure and travel often finding inspiration through her exploration. A natural teacher and philanthropist, she shares her creativity with students of all ages through her business Earth Art Studio which opened in 2005 and abroad through philanthropic projects, which have involved working with children, artists and communities in post-earthquake Haiti.
