The artist explores themes of transformation by drawing connections to the body, psychology, and plants.
Heart of Chautauqua
2018 | 24×12×14″ | bisque fired stoneware clay, hand thrown and built, hand carved
This culminating work of the artist’s Filtration Series was made while on residency at Chautauqua, NY. The town of Chautauqua rests on a steep hill pointing towards its namesake lake. Labeled by the Iroquois before the Dutch Mormons arrived, Chautauqua means “a bag tied in the middle”, because of its shape. Scattered across the town are bioswales, which protect the lake from algae blooms. Due to colonization, land development and modern infrastructure, it is necessary to counteract the pollution that descends into the lake. The “technology” that cleans this water and restores balance to the ecosystem is the roots of the native plants themselves, some of which even benefit from the debris in the water. As humans, we are also capable of repurposing toxic influences. This work symbolizes hope that we can not only overcome negative experiences, but even thrive by transforming them into a kind of fertilizer.
Three Flowers
2018 | Variable Sizes | stoneware clay, raku glazes, hand thrown, hand carved
Three Flowers consists of three individual ceramic vases that each display a specimen of flower native to the region of Chautauqua, NY. They are the swamp milkweed (asclepias incarnata), butterfly milkweed (asclepias tuberosa), and purple cone flower (echinacea purpurea). Each beautiful in their own right, these plants also serve an important role in their shared ecosystem. Around Chautauqua, NY, where Natalia participated in her residency for ceramic arts in 2018, these flowers were ubiquitously found across all of the bioswale systems installed around the namesake lake, in order to protect it from algae blooms. Essentially, this botanical militia absorbed toxins that would otherwise run off from our manmade settlements (and all the harmful waste found within), into the lake.
Apoptosis
2018 | 35×31×23″ | stoneware clay, cone 6 firing, metal oxides and burnished surface, copper tape, metal pipe, insulation foam
In neuroscience, apoptosis can refer to the death of neurons in the brain. The marvel of neuroplasticity is possible in part due to counterintuitive functions like apoptosis. This work is a metaphor for the private and personal transformations experienced during life-changing events. In the figure, resembling black oil rising from a void and somersaulting through the air, there are fragments of coherent faces and structures fusing and fulminating together. The colors, black and orange-red, resemble a volcano in bloom. Change often feels intrusive and sometimes destructive, yet there is also beauty in the fact that change is a vehicle for growth, like an island borne by an eruption.
Oasis
2021 | 10×6×6″ | stoneware clay, cone 6 glazes, hand thrown, hand carved
Oasis was made for a colleague to commemorate his daughter and son-in-law’s first home. The name comes from the wish that they can take refuge and replenish from the bustle of daily life in their new nest. The filagreed ceramic surface depicts a relationship between psychology, physiology and botany. Net-like holes represent the function of a filter, which is to remove the harmful debris from any passing substance. The interwoven anatomy of a body, working in delicate and perfect balance, acts passively and autonomically to keep us healthy, like plants do for the planet. There are many universal similarities between organs and plants, the focus of which here is the transformation of negative or difficult elements into positive or digestible ones.
Nectar
2018 | 10×6×6″ | stoneware clay, cone 10 glazes (multiple glaze firings), hand thrown, hand carved
Nectar was inspired by the interaction of plants and architecture. In general, the growth of plants, especially untended or wild ones, implicates the passage of time. The forms on Nectar are influenced by fantasy and science fiction stories, where characters come across strange, new and wonderful environments, containing evidence of ancient civilizations that have mysteriously dried up, leaving only ruins behind. It is a celebration of the microcosmic virility hidden in seemingly lifeless, abandoned, and quiet spaces, such as a sidewalk curb. This piece was twice glaze-fired upside-down to achieve the ideal color saturation and viscosity around the rim, which both emphasize the theme of fertility.
Patient 0
2018 | 12×6×6″ | stoneware clay, soda firing, hand thrown and altered
Patient 0 is the “germ” that infects the Patients Series, created during the artist’s residency at Chautauqua, NY. By dissecting thrown forms and reconfiguring them, there is a feeling of being able to suspend time and movement, like a still frame from an action movie, or an astronaut floating through space. The form opens itself up to even more interpretation than before, having become abstracted and stretched to the limits of possibility. In this quasi-violent act of disfigurement, something arguably more substantial and beautiful—or at least, completely different (for better or worse)—is born.
Patient 1: Mania
2018 | 10×10×26″ | stoneware clay, raku glazes, hand thrown, hand built
Patient 1: Mania is a part of the Patients series, which was created during the artist’s residency at Chautauqua, NY. Mania is a word for abundant energy. It is a kind of passionate chaos; an unbridled creative force; a black hole. In a textbook sense, the counterpart of mania is depression. But out of context, mania can be seen as another ideal state like Ataraxia (Patient 2). The individual in this piece seems to feel good, perhaps powerful or euphoric, in a way that disregards external stimuli and manifests from within. The rings above their head are like swirling thoughts, or even deteriorating planets. The figure appears to be rising and contorting itself out of a pool of gasoline, all at once beckoning and mocking the strike of a match. While not peaceful like Patient 2: Ataraxia, there is still a similar air of self-satisfaction.
Patient 2: Ataraxia
2018 | 15×12×18″ | stoneware clay, cone 6 glazes, hand thrown, hand built
Patient 2: Ataraxia is part of the Patients series, which was created during the artist’s residency at Chautauqua, NY. Ataraxia is a word for tranquility, or extreme calm in the face of adversity. The facial expression on this piece reveals the inner world of this individual, rather than their reaction to some outside stimulus. The rings above their head are like swirling thoughts, or even churning gears. Their skin, resembling a night sky, conveys the boundless universe within them—a calm and clear night sky full of twinkling stars; a part of this world but also removed from it. From a corporeal point of view, the ellipses cut into the subject’s flesh in a painful or slightly morbid way. Their peace doesn’t come from the absence of pain, but thrives in spite of it, or maybe because of the lessons they learn from it.
Skin Stories 1
2016 | 16×14×10″ | stoneware clay, cone 4 glazes, hand built
This piece is an exploration into figurative expression and pattern. Natalia created the form based on images of a friend, and drew the patterns spontaneously. What came out of this visceral process was something that flattened the planes between microscopic and astronomic; terrestrial and human; past and present. The colors were chosen based on our view of earth from space. In one way, Skin Stories 1 is a kitsch display of interbeing. In another, it is an unobtuse memento of oneness.
Skin Stories 2
2021 | 18×10×12″ | stoneware clay, salt wood firing and slips, hand built
Skin Stories 2 evolved from Skin Stories 1, and was made by working from images of the same friend. The surface treatment of the “skin” was yet again experimental, but this time in firing technique rather than surface treatment. The unpredictable flames and random sprinkling of salt in the wood fire created a feeling of age and history on the form. “He” appears to have experience backing up his serene expression, rather than naivety. His superficial imperfections add to his character and beauty, resembling real skin dotted with birthmarks, pores and scars.
Heart of Chautauqua
2018 | 24×12×14″ | bisque fired stoneware clay, hand thrown and built, hand carved
This culminating work of the artist’s Filtration Series was made while on residency at Chautauqua, NY. The town of Chautauqua rests on a steep hill pointing towards its namesake lake. Labeled by the Iroquois before the Dutch Mormons arrived, Chautauqua means “a bag tied in the middle”, because of its shape. Scattered across the town are bioswales, which protect the lake from algae blooms. Due to colonization, land development and modern infrastructure, it is necessary to counteract the pollution that descends into the lake. The “technology” that cleans this water and restores balance to the ecosystem is the roots of the native plants themselves, some of which even benefit from the debris in the water. As humans, we are also capable of repurposing toxic influences. This work symbolizes hope that we can not only overcome negative experiences, but even thrive by transforming them into a kind of fertilizer.
Three Flowers
2018 | Variable Sizes | stoneware clay, raku glazes, hand thrown, hand carved
Three Flowers is part of the Filtration series, which was created during the artist’s residency at Chautauqua, NY. Three Flowers consists of three individual ceramic vases that each display a specimen of flower native to the region of Chautauqua, NY. They are the swamp milkweed (asclepias incarnata), butterfly milkweed (asclepias tuberosa), and purple cone flower (echinacea purpurea). Each beautiful in their own right, these plants also serve an important role in their shared ecosystem. Around Chautauqua, NY, where Natalia participated in her residency for ceramic arts in 2018, these flowers were ubiquitously found across all of the bioswale systems installed around the namesake lake, in order to protect it from algae blooms. Essentially, this botanical militia absorbed toxins that would otherwise run off from our manmade settlements (and all the harmful waste found within), into the lake.
Apoptosis
2018 | 35×31×23″ | stoneware clay, cone 6 firing, metal oxides and burnished surface, copper tape, metal pipe, insulation foam
In neuroscience, apoptosis can refer to the death of neurons in the brain. The marvel of neuroplasticity is possible in part due to counterintuitive functions like apoptosis. This work is a metaphor for the private and personal transformations experienced during life-changing events. In the figure, resembling black oil rising from a void and somersaulting through the air, there are fragments of coherent faces and structures fusing and fulminating together. The colors, black and orange-red, resemble a volcano in bloom. Change often feels intrusive and sometimes destructive, yet there is also beauty in the fact that change is a vehicle for growth, like an island borne by an eruption.
Oasis
2021 | 10×6×6″ | stoneware clay, cone 6 glazes, hand thrown, hand carved
Oasis was made for a colleague to commemorate his daughter and son-in-law’s first home. The name comes from the wish that they can take refuge and replenish from the bustle of daily life in their new nest. The filagreed ceramic surface depicts a relationship between psychology, physiology and botany. Net-like holes represent the function of a filter, which is to remove the harmful debris from any passing substance. The interwoven anatomy of a body, working in delicate and perfect balance, acts passively and autonomically to keep us healthy, like plants do for the planet. There are many universal similarities between organs and plants, the focus of which here is the transformation of negative or difficult elements into positive or digestible ones.
Nectar
2018 | 10×6×6″ | stoneware clay, cone 10 glazes (multiple glaze firings), hand thrown, hand carved
Nectar was inspired by the interaction of plants and architecture. In general, the growth of plants, especially untended or wild ones, implicates the passage of time. The forms on Nectar are influenced by fantasy and science fiction stories, where characters come across strange, new and wonderful environments, containing evidence of ancient civilizations that have mysteriously dried up, leaving only ruins behind. It is a celebration of the microcosmic virility hidden in seemingly lifeless, abandoned, and quiet spaces, such as a sidewalk curb. This piece was twice glaze-fired upside-down to achieve the ideal color saturation and viscosity around the rim, which both emphasize the theme of fertility.
Patient 0
2018 | 12×6×6″ | stoneware clay, soda firing, hand thrown and altered
Patient 0 is the “germ” that infects the Patients Series, created during the artist’s residency at Chautauqua, NY. By dissecting thrown forms and reconfiguring them, there is a feeling of being able to suspend time and movement, like a still frame from an action movie, or an astronaut floating through space. The form opens itself up to even more interpretation than before, having become abstracted and stretched to the limits of possibility. In this quasi-violent act of disfigurement, something arguably more substantial and beautiful—or at least, completely different (for better or worse)—is born.
Patient 1: Mania
2018 | 10×10×26″ | stoneware clay, raku glazes, hand thrown, hand built
Patient 1: Mania is a part of the Patients series, which was created during the artist’s residency at Chautauqua, NY. Mania is a word for abundant energy. It is a kind of passionate chaos; an unbridled creative force; a black hole. In a textbook sense, the counterpart of mania is depression. But out of context, mania can be seen as another ideal state like Ataraxia (Patient 2). The individual in this piece seems to feel good, perhaps powerful or euphoric, in a way that disregards external stimuli and manifests from within. The rings above their head are like swirling thoughts, or even deteriorating planets. The figure appears to be rising and contorting itself out of a pool of gasoline, all at once beckoning and mocking the strike of a match. While not peaceful like Patient 2: Ataraxia, there is still a similar air of self-satisfaction.
Patient 2: Ataraxia
2018 | 15×12×18″ | stoneware clay, cone 6 glazes, hand thrown, hand built
Patient 2: Ataraxia is part of the Patients series, which was created during the artist’s residency at Chautauqua, NY. Ataraxia is a word for tranquility, or extreme calm in the face of adversity. The facial expression on this piece reveals the inner world of this individual, rather than their reaction to some outside stimulus. The rings above their head are like swirling thoughts, or even churning gears. Their skin, resembling a night sky, conveys the boundless universe within them—a calm and clear night sky full of twinkling stars; a part of this world but also removed from it. From a corporeal point of view, the ellipses cut into the subject’s flesh in a painful or slightly morbid way. Their peace doesn’t come from the absence of pain, but thrives in spite of it, or maybe because of the lessons they learn from it.
Skin Stories 1
2016 | 16×14×10″ | stoneware clay, cone 4 glazes, hand built
This piece is an exploration into figurative expression and pattern. Natalia created the form based on images of a friend, and drew the patterns spontaneously. What came out of this visceral process was something that flattened the planes between microscopic and astronomic; terrestrial and human; past and present. The colors were chosen based on our view of earth from space. In one way, Skin Stories 1 is a kitsch display of interbeing. In another, it is an unobtuse memento of oneness.
Skin Stories 2
2021 | 18×10×12″ | stoneware clay, salt wood firing and slips, hand built
Skin Stories 2 evolved from Skin Stories 1, and was made by working from images of the same friend. The surface treatment of the “skin” was yet again experimental, but this time in firing technique rather than surface treatment. The unpredictable flames and random sprinkling of salt in the wood fire created a feeling of age and history on the form. “He” appears to have experience backing up his serene expression, rather than naivety. His superficial imperfections add to his character and beauty, resembling real skin dotted with birthmarks, pores and scars.