2018, 8x7x6.5, Ceramic materials fired to cone 01, Alfred local shale excavated and processed by the artist (grid portion), self-glazing clay bodies, gold luster.
2018, 53x13x13, Ceramic materials fired to cone 01 ox., dyed paper mache, artificial flowers, latex paint, found brass component.
2018, 24x16x8”, Ceramic materials fired to cone 01 oxidation.
2018, 10x10x4”, Ceramic materials - lower portion: porcelain with 04 glazes fired to cone 10 ox., upper “blots”- cone 01 ox.
2018, 18x24x1”, Paint, paper mache and dye on canvas with resin.
2017, 18x18x8”, Ceramic materials fired to cone 01 ox., foam, Formica.
2018, 10x22x5”, Ceramic materials fired to various temperatures, found objects, wire, yarn, silicone.
2018, 58x32x18”, Ceramic materials- base: cone 10 ox., second, third, and final tiers added one at a time with bisque firings between and finally fired to cone 01 ox.
2018, 28x15x10, Ceramic materials fired to cone 01 multiple times and added onto each time with paper clay and additional glazes and self-glazing clay used as a slip.
2018, 11x12x13, Ceramic materials fired to cone 01 ox.
Artist Statement
Like poetry, my work resists categorization. I am not part of any movement. My primary motivations are curiosity and awe. Materials have transformative effects, have transcendent consequences.
Two like forms side by side conjure magnetism. They may read as siblings, lovers, multiple aspects of a self, as self and ‘other’, as cells dividing and multiplying, or as branches of simultaneous potentiality. Longing is inherent. The symmetry and scale evoke bodies, faces, eyes, and psychological implications.
Juxtaposition creates tension. Rigid geometric bars melt into pinkish soft ripples. A full volumetric, chrome-yellow limb flattens to an unglazed terra-cotta ‘shadow’. A room-sized ruffled fabric garden hangs across from a photograph of the same green ruffles penetrated by an androgynous face on the verge of biting an apple. Object, image, and inhabitation blend into one another.
Our culture separates body & mind, religion & politics, male & female, right & wrong, self & other, and on and on. Are any of these truly mutually exclusive? I work to recognize paradox and the spectrum of complexity between named categories.
-- Liisa Nelson
Bio
I am an emerging artist and a 2018 MFA graduate of the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. I completed a post bac program at the University of Colorado Boulder (2015) and have a BFA in 3D Media from Pacific Lutheran University (2009).
I grew up in Montana in a place where people don’t often leave. My teachers, family, friends, and colleagues are my greatest assets. I look forward to continuing to engage an ever-deepening pool of burning questions through a career of art making, teaching, travel, and active community involvement.
— Liisa Nelson