DESIRE (pedestal or wall)
22 x 14 x 6
Coastal Eddy, Laguna Beach, CA

Michele Collier is a ceramicist sculptor, who focuses on the human form. She manipulates slabs and sheets of clay that fold and undulate to evoke the human form and allude to the human spirit.

Collier frequently exhibits throughout the States, on both East and West side.

In her own words

Could you please introduce yourself, your background and what motivates you to create and why?
My name is Michele Collier and I have been working as a clay figurative sculptor for 12 years. My background is in illustration. Illustration is, by nature, a story-telling art form and it is that training that has informed my work in clay from the very beginning. Each sculpture tells a story. I see the clay moving through space and expressing a feeling.  Each piece challenges me to communicate. My days are spent in the studio, but my work goes out into the world with something to say. My highest calling is to be honest with myself in the hope that I am connecting to my viewer.

EARTH & SKY
22 x 12 x 14
Contemporary Fine Arts Gallery, La Jolla

Which artistic project are you most proud of and why?
TREES IN WINTER

I grew up on the Sacramento River delta in a small farming community. They were German dairy farmers who, like my great-grandfather had come to America in the 1800’s. The land was flat and featureless except for the trees and the levees upon which they grew. All else was leveled by the plow. The trees became a symbol of permanence for me.

In my youth, I rode my horses all over this land. Wintertime was quiet and meditative. All activity had ceased. Only migrating birds and the sounds of my horse could be heard through the fog that shrouded the land. The trees lost their leaves revealing their true shape and character. I felt as though I were riding among ancestor sentinels.

Now is the winter of my life. The leaves are gone and only the form, which was shaped over time, remains. How did I live my life? Is it a pleasing form? Is there still strength in the limbs?

WARRIOR
16 x 10 x 9

What elements do you find most challenging in your work?
I work exclusively with clay slabs and I use no permanent armature. This is my own invention and has taken me years to develop. I have to approach each piece as an engineering project. I visualize my way through the construction and plan each addition of a clay slab with only my feelings and my sketches to guide me. It’s a tightrope walk that can end in the destruction of the piece at any time. The pay-off is the sense of immediacy this method generates in the finished piece.

Your forms almost move. Where do you draw your inspiration from? Do you use music or dance as a source?
My work is autobiographical in the sense that I am illustrating what is going on for me at the time I am creating each piece. I sketch whenever I am trying to find my next piece. I don’t edit at all…I just sketch every thought and feeling that comes to me. Later I am able to look at those sketches and see which ones resonate with me.

DESIRE II
24 x 11 x 9

What would you like to be doing with your art ten years from now?
In the decade ahead I hope to bring my biggest, my best, my most heart-felt work to fruition. It is a time for scathing honesty and unrelenting work. I want to be the feature of museum shows at that point in my career.

Collier is a graduate from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA  where she studied BFA in illustration.

All images courtesy of Michele Collier  |  www.burningclay.com

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