October 15 – November 10, 2024
Sales Gallery & Online
Selina Chen, Leila Denecke, Isabel Souza, Daniel Velasquez, Judith Yourman
Selina Chen, Leila Denecke, Isabel Souza, Daniel Velasquez, Judith Yourman
About the Artists
Selina Chen
Jingdezhen, China
Bio to follow.
Leila Denecke
Scandia, MN
Leila Denecke received her MFA degree from Louisiana State University after four years of study in Japan at the Tekisui Museum of Art and the ceramic Art Research Institute. She is a 2013 recipient of a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant. In 2004, and again in 2008, she received the McKnight Artist Fellowship for Ceramic Artists. Denecke’s work ranges from small informal tea bowls to large freestanding sculpture and installations. She works in stoneware and porcelain and uses various atmospheric kilns, such as wood and soda.
Isabel Souza
Truro, MA
Isabel Souza is a ceramic artist and teacher based in Truro, Massachusetts. In 2019, Isabel graduated with a BFA from Syracuse University. She pursued several mediums including ceramics, textile design, silkscreen, and fashion photography. During a semester abroad in Florence, Italy, Souza cultivated new ideas around craftsmanship, art, and fashion that she would use to inform her own work. After graduating, Souza returned to her hometown on Cape Cod to pursue her dream of establishing a ceramics business. Her goal as a ceramic artist is to create functional handmade objects that hold stories and add meaning to our surroundings. Her designs aim to feel personal in how they interact with the human body—whether it is a mug that we hold to our lips and cradle in our hands for warmth, a serving bowl that is passed between loved ones at a dinner table, or a pair of vibrant earrings that we thread through our ears on special occasions. Souza’s hope is that her works spark as much joy for their users as the creative process kindles for her.
Daniel Velasquez
Aptos, CA
Before graduating with a degree in ceramic sculpture from San Francisco State University, Daniel Velasquez was welding and concrete-casting at the artist studio 5 Feet from the Moon since age 16. After graduating, Velasquez worked with large-scale ceramic artist Mattie Leads, whose practice inspired him to consider the scale, scope, and environmental implementation of his own art. Velasquez now incorporates new technologies, like CNC-operated machines and 3D modeling programs, into his studio process. Through combining them with more physical and ancient materials like clay, Velasquez aims to accentuate the mediums and their humanity. Community, wonder, and public art are important to Velasquez, who has been working as an international muralist the past few years, and these values find their way into his ceramic practice as well.
Judith Yourman
Minneapolis, MN
Bio to follow.