2023, H 67 x W 20 x D 19 inches, Media: Mixed Media, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Pattern
Queen Honeybee is part of the Asphalt & Honey project, 2022-2023, a sociopolitical, autobiographical art intervention after the manner of Luiseño artist James Luna.
2016, H 41 x 19 x 17 inches, Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze
Inspired by child star Jasmine Heart Maniego, backstage at intermission, in warmup boots on her cell phone. An affectionate contemporary portrait.
2018, H 44 x 28 x 32 inches, Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed, Oxide
Inspired by Ifetayo Ali-Landing cello performance, finding a way to show music in visual form.
2020, H 46 x 40 x 38 inches, Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze
detail of lifesize figure. About isolation during Covid19. The seated figure balances a cup of coffee while reading a book, while a sleeping cat sprawls across the table. The illuminated letter Q stands for quarantine.
2020, H 44 x 40 x 37 inches, Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze
close view of figure, with painting reflected onto it. About isolation during Covid19.
2020, H 44 x 40 x 37 inches, Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze
Full figure of ASOLAS: Painting. The painting reflects back onto the torso, and a cat sleeps in her lap. About working in isolation during Covid19.
2020, H 64 x 18 x 18 inches, Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze
Remaking the ancient myths, in keeping with our contemporary world; Icarus has changed his mind, taken up gardening, and is pulling off his wings.
2020, L 51 x 26 x 20 inches, Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze
Remaking the ancient myth: Prometheus has tamed the eagle, and still keeps the fire of knowledge.
2020, L 51 x 26 x 20 inches, Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze
Prometheus has tamed the now-penitent eagle, but the bandaid is a reminder of their history. detail view
2019, H 41 x 25 x 28 inches, Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Firing Process: Mid-range, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Oxide, Relief
The child Hatshepsut with pet rabbit, daydreaming about being king.
Artist Statement
There is an inherent paradox when working with so responsive a material as clay. Traces of touch - fingerprints, knuckle marks - are formed, moment by moment, with relentless fidelity. Such intimate contact of hand and clay remains far beyond the process, beyond even the life of the artist; it is a permanent record of human impermanence.
Bio
Susannah Israel is an American contemporary artist, writer and composer living in east Oakland, California. Her sculptures reveal a gritty yet passionate view of humanity, drawn from city life. She was born in New York and raised by a painter and a writer; as a young student she received a scholarship to Pratt Art Institute to study ceramics with Byron Temple. Israel attended San Francisco State University :B.A, Art and Chemistry, and M.F.A. in Ceramics after working in her own studio. As a teaching artist, she was Professor of Sculpture & Ceramics at Laney College, Oakland (2002-2018) and engaged with diverse communities throughout the western states, giving lectures, workshops and masterclasses. Israel’s expressive work is widely exhibited, appearing in the collections of the Archie Bray Foundation, Auckland Memorial Museum, New Zealand, Mint Museum’s American Ceramics Collection, the Yingge Ceramics Museum, parks and libraries, and many other sites around the world. Selected honors include the Fletcher Challenge Premier Award, a distinction which Israel holds exclusively among US artists, Gottlieb Foundation grant, Groot Foundation Award, Center For Cultural Innovation Award, Vivika Heino Award, the 1st Ernie Kim Award and others. Selected artist residencies include the Archie Bray Foundation, Boise Visiting Artists & Scholars Program, Mission Clay Art & Industry, Cider Creek Collective, the Jentel Foundation, Black Bean Studios, San Jose, Sculptor-On-Campus at CSU, Bakersfield, Mendocino Art Center and others. At home in Oakland, she works in her studio at the Vulcan Foundry.