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Shelley Spira Burns

About The Artist

Artist Statement

Clay’s geologic origin in the landscape that surrounds us has greatly influenced my work.  I draw inspiration from the mountains, rock, and terrain, as well as the ancient cultures that inhabited these lands.

My abstract sculptures are “clay formations.”  Each is hand built without armature.  I hand roll coils and meld together altered pinch pots;  It is a slow and ancient process.  The unique qualities of clay, specifically its plasticity and strength, allow me to explore the shared organic nature of geologic, botanic and human forms.  I engage in a dance between strategic and deliberate action and improvisational gesture.  I continually study the sculpture looking for suggestions of other forms that may invite exploration.

Similar to the experience of viewing a geologic landscape, I want the observers of my art to  identify their own forms within my sculptures and assign their own meanings and associations.

Biography

Shelley is a ceramic sculptor whose focus is on the hand-building of abstract forms.  She works out of her studio in Sonoma, California.  Shelley has studied ceramics with well known artists in the ceramic field.  Her pieces have been in curated exhibitions in Seattle, Roanoke and Healdsburg.  One of her sculptures was selected for the Di Rosa Museum’s Inaugural Exhibit “True North” in 2022/2023.

 

Art Medium(s)

Ceramics, Sculpture

Studio Information

COVID Precautions

Contact Information

Artist Full Name
Contact Email Address

Exhibitions & Press

Group Exhibitions

2022/2023

“True North-Juried Exhibition,”   di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art Napa, California 

“Surface:  A National Juried Exhibition Highlighting the Use of Textures and Patterns in Artwork.”  D’Art Center , Norfolk, Virginia

“Gallery 110 12th Annual Juried Exhibition,”  Gallery 110,  Seattle, WA – Juror, Emily Zimmerman, Director & Curator, Jacob  Lawrence Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

2021

“Bill Shelley and Shelley Spira Burns,” Hammerfriar Gallery, Healdsburg, California

“Garden Art.”  Online Exhibition, Association of Clay and Glass Artists of California

2020

“Sonoma Arts Stroll,”  City of Sonoma and Plein Air Foundation, Sonoma, California

“Created – Artists at the Center,”  Sonoma Ceramics at Sonoma Community Center, Sonoma, California

2018

“13 Years Retrospective Group Show,”  Hammerfriar Gallery, Healdsburg, California

“The Annual Invitation Show,”  The Arts Guild of Sonoma, Sonoma, California

2017

“Shelley Spira Burns and Bill Shelley,”  Hammerfriar Gallery, Healdsburg, California

MOS GALLERY

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