Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Orleans.
Elizabeth, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I was born in Philadelphia, PA. My mother received her master’s degree in interior architecture and design when I was very young and my great- grandfather, grandfather and father were all builders. I earned an MFA in ceramics at California College of the Arts and a BFA at Tulane University. I have taught since 1995 at various institutions including Alameda, Richmond and Merritt Colleges.
In 2004 I created a site-specific installation of thousands of ceramic elements at the MOCA in Santa Rosa, CA and was awarded a grant from Bank of America to create the work. It was featured in Ceramics Monthly magazine and was shown at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in SF, CA and at the West Hollywood Library in LA, CA.
Living in Venice Beach, CA, alongside the tradition of Southern California ceramic artists I pursue innovation in clay. I maintain a ceramic studio and open up to the community one night a week to teach a Ceramic Social class.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I make hand built ceramic installations and sculptures. I am interested in altering pre-existing spaces by creating architectural interventions that penetrate boundaries and explore movement, change, and the infinite possibility of time. I enjoy changing a volume whether it’s a small square or the walls of a room. The viewer can experience formations growing inside of a wall or visually moving or coming out of the wall. Minimal shapes tell a story and are often alluring. My collisions of geometric and organic configurations, often reference growth, the human body, and abstracted life forms.
What do you think it takes to be successful as an artist?
Success is all relative and can be contrived in the art world. Success was the moment I knew as a freshman at Tulane that I had to create art! It can be a moment of timing the building of a project perfectly, a new concept entering my head, the final result of finishing a piece, hanging a show, selling a piece, recognition… they are all different accomplishments. I think that money defines success for society but money, fame and “success” can be different things in art I believe. An artist’s career can be a bit like a rollercoaster.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I will be open for the Venice Art Walk on May 20th. I have shown in various museums, public spaces and galleries. You can see my work at elizabethorleans.com and can follow me on Facebook and Instagram @elizabethorleansart. Schedule a studio visit to see the work in person, commission custom projects or to buy pre-existing art.
Contact Info:
- Address: 361 Vernon Ave.
Studio #7
Venice, CA 90291 - Website: www.elizabethorleans.com
- Email: liz@elizabethorleans.com
- Instagram: @elizabethorleansart
- Facebook: Elizabeth Orleans Art
- Other: @ceramicsocial
Image Credit:
Portrait by Genevive Adams
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