Celebrated Western North Carolina ceramist Lisa Clague created this body of work during the six months following the devastation wrought by Tropical Storm Helene when both artist and environment were profoundly unsettled. The artist's creative process mirrors the trauma and recovery experienced in the wake of this cataclysmic event.
Clague had to deal with an enormous number of large trees and branches down on her property, including a huge pine that crashed through her studio roof. Unable to work in the studio, Clague created a small space in her house to continue working through the winter months. Grappling with conflicted emotions about returning to her work while her community was still in upheaval, Clague's works innately reference the tension between despair and renewal.
Original paintings and sculptures employ imagery of sticks, animals, and the human form as vessels of subconscious expression, emotional fragments that refuse to be silenced. One particularly striking motif is the absence of a face on a female figure. Clague replaces the face with a space holding a baby bird entangled in debris and immersed in water, symbolizing numbness, loss, and fragile hope.
For Clague, this collection marks a rare moment in her career where the work directly connects to a specific experience, making it a compelling exploration of vulnerability, resilience, and the human impulse to make meaning from disaster. The artist invites viewers to experience the raw honesty and transformative energy that flows through these works, hoping to bring healing and collective memory together.
