Bio

Irene Stivers Nelson is an emerging ceramic artist based in Seattle, WA. Irene grew up running around the forests and dunes of California’s Central Coast, which began her lifelong love of nature. She studied fashion design at UC Davis, then worked in design of various forms – first bridal gowns, later graphic and user experience design – before finding her artistic passion in ceramics. Her work has been shown locally as well as across the country: Charlie Cummings Gallery in Gainesville, FL; Companion Gallery in Humboldt, TN, and The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, PA.

In addition to her artistic practice, Irene is a ceramics instructor and studio tech at Rain City Clay and serves on the Washington Clay Arts Association board of directors.

Artist Statement

A 2018 trip to Antarctica gave me a glimpse of a natural world without human influence, something I’ve longed for since I was a child. (My fourth-grade class was asked what wish we would ask of a genie, and I wished for humans and everything we’ve done to disappear from the world.) I create a surreal version of that vision through my sculptures, reliefs, and sculptural vessels, focusing on animals’ gestures and social interactions to emphasize their personhood and inner lives. They emerge as reliefs from classic forms, co-opting these man-made vessels and refusing to be contained. I use both additive and subtractive methods to add dense detail and layers of depth, carving and attaching so that the line between form and surface blurs.

Many of my pieces use religious imagery and composition (particularly borrowing from Gothic and Baroque cathedrals) to revere animals in a manner that Western art has historically reserved for human royalty or holy figures. I want viewers of my work to be immersed in a mysterious and at times surreal natural world; to speculate about the animals’ moods, thoughts, and interactions; and to wonder at why some individuals are exalted or shunned by others.