About

Artwork has a voice, and mine speaks to environmental awareness and changing behaviors. Each sculpture expresses a positive message as it captures and holds the beauty nature maintains, even when in peril.

My work is a conduit to emotion through inquiry, recognition and familiarity. It serves as an arena for connection, resonance and reverberation. Through aging and decay my hand-carved ceramic sculptures and distressed cast glass challenge the viewer with both the nature of the material and the messages within. Because yes…we are to blame. We are f*$&ing up the environment. Humans’ continued disregard and negative actions are eliminating ecosystems and driving extinctions. The planet is warming, lands are burning, waters are rising, and resources are disappearing. And despite our actions, nature’s glory remains.

I unearth how nature maintains its splendors with tenacity and triumphs of existence, despite human disregard. I appreciate how materials mirror the environment’s fragility and durability—easily damaged if disrespected and yet invincible in their inherent beauty and longevity.

Each organic creation is filled with metaphor, both literal and implied. Anthropomorphic elements and vessel forms link humanity as timelessly inseparable from our natural surroundings. Each sculpture fosters awareness to affect viewers’ behaviors toward sharing the planet that must change and begin by walking with softer steps.

Selected Collections

∙ The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
∙ Smithsonian American Art Museum, DC
∙ Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
∙ Carnegie Museum of Art, PA
∙ Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
∙ Everson Museum of Art, NY
∙ Fuller Craft Museum, MA
∙ Birmingham Museum of Art, AL
∙ Flint Institute of Art, MI
∙ Asheville Art Museum, NC
∙ Gregg Museum of Art & Design, NC
∙ Blowing Rock Art & History Museum, NC
∙ Winterthur Museum, DE
∙ Phoenix Airport Museum, Sky Harbor Airport, AZ
∙ Appleton Museum of Art, FL
∙ Memorial Art Gallery, NY
∙ Herbert F. Johnson Museum, NY
∙ Burchfield Penney Art Center, The Museum for Western NY Arts, NY
∙ J0hn F. Peto Studio Museum, NJ
∙ Cornell University Plantations Visitors Center, NY
∙ me Collectors Room, Stiftung Olbricht, Germany
∙ Jingdezhen Sanbao Ceramic Arts Institute, China
∙ Changchun International Ceramics Gallery, China
∙ Shui-Li Snake Kiln and Cultural Park, Taiwan

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2026 ∙ Blowing Rock Art & History Museum, NC
2022 ∙ Gregg Museum of Art & Design, NC
∙ Sokyo Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
2021 ∙ Galerie Fledermaus, Chicago, IL
2019 ∙ Blue Spiral 1 Gallery, Asheville, NC
2018 ∙ Jason Jacques Gallery, New York, NY
2017 ∙ Jason Jacques Gallery, at Frieze NY, New York, NY
2015 ∙ Appleton Museum of Art, Ocala, FL
2013 ∙ Jason Jacques Gallery, New York, NY
2012 ∙ Tompkins County Public Library, Ithaca, NY
2011 ∙ View Gallery, Old Forge, NY
∙ The Grand Bohemian Gallery, Savannah, GA
2010 ∙ The Grand Bohemian Gallery, Asheville, NC

Selected Group Exhibitions

2026 ∙ Fuller Craft Museum, The Vessel, MA
∙ Cedar Creek Gallery, National Teapot Invitational XIII, NC
2025 ∙ Muskegon Museum of Art, Invitational, MI
2024 ∙ Mint Museum, Delhom Service League – 50 Golden Years, NC
∙ Blue Spiral 1, Hyperrealism, NC
2023 ∙ Brookgreen Gardens Museum, National Sculpture Society Grant Recipients Exhibition, SC
∙ NCECA Annual, Weston Gallery, I Contain Multitudes, OH
∙ National Sculpture Society, Altered Realities, NY
2022 ∙ Asheville Art Museum, Natural Collector, NC
2021 ∙ Changchun Museum, Changchun International Ceramics Symposium, China
∙ SFA-Lisa Schiff Advisory, New York, NY
2020 ∙ New Taipei Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan Ceramics Biennale, Taiwan
∙ Schack Art Center, Everett, WA
2019 ∙ Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery, Washington, DC
∙ Contemporary Art Museum, Raleigh, NC
∙ Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY
2018 ∙ Blowing Rock Art & History Museum, Blowing Rock, NC
∙ American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis, MN
2017 ∙ Smithsonian American Art Museum, Renwick Gallery, Washington, DC
∙ Salon 94, New York, NY
∙ Art Museum of Lafayette, Lafayette, IN
∙ Phoenix Airport Museum, AZ
2016 ∙ Flint Museum of Art, Flint, MI
∙ John F. Peto Museum, NJ
2015 ∙ Burchfield-Penney Arts Center, Buffalo, NY
2014 ∙ Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY
2013 ∙ Jordon Schnitzer Museum of Art, Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, OR
∙ North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC
2012 ∙ Ferrin Gallery, Pittsfield, MA
2011 ∙ del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2010 ∙ The Wood Turning Center, NCECA, Philadelphia, PA
2009 ∙ Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY
2008 ∙ Great China Ceramic Museum, Jingdezhen, China
∙ Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University

Selected Awards & Honors

2025 ∙ Gold Award, Smithsonian Craft Show, Washington, DC
∙ Joan Mitchell Fellowship, Nominee, LA
2023 ∙ Judge’s Merit Award, Caldwell Sculpture Celebration, NC
2022 ∙ Stanley Bleifeld Memorial Grant, National Sculpture Society, NY
2019 ∙ Joyce W. Pope Grand Prize, Contemporary Art Museum, Raleigh, NC
2016 ∙ James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Artist (ceramics), Smithsonian American Art Museum
2014 ∙ Ceramics Award of Excellence, Smithsonian Craft Show, Washington, DC
2013 ∙ Delhom Service League Purchase Award, The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
2011 ∙ Director’s Award, 73rd Regional Exhibition, Arnot Art Museum, Elmira NY
2009 ∙ Emerging Artist ‘09, AmericanStyle magazine

Education & Training

2025 ∙ Artist in Residence, Monte Azul Center for the Arts, Costa Rica
’21 & 22 ∙ Artist in Residence, Starworks Center for Creative Enterprise, NC
’04 &’06 ∙ Artist in Residence, Taiwan
1985 ∙ Ithaca College, Bachelor of Arts

Selected Art & Design Fairs

∙ Frieze NY, NY
∙ TEFAF: Maastricht, Netherlands
∙ Masterpiece London, England
∙ Design Miami/Art Basel, Switzerland and Florida
∙ FOG Design + Art, CA
∙ SOFA Chicago, IL
∙ The Salon: Art + Design, NY

Grants

2025 ∙ South Arts , Artist Support Grant
∙ Monte Azul Center for the Arts, Artist Fellowship, Costa Rica
2022 ∙ North Carolina Arts Council , Artist Support Grant
2021 ∙ North Carolina Arts Council , Artist Support Grant
2017 ∙ Craft Emergency Relief Fund, CERF+ Get Ready Grant
2006 – 10 ∙ Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County, Local Capacity Building Grant
2006 ∙ New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA)
2004 ∙ New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA)

Selected Publications

Works have appeared in Architectural Digest, Ceramics Monthly, Corning Museum’s New Glass Review, Art & Antiques, American Art Collector, Modern, NICHE, Clay Times, Design 360º (China), Ceramic Art (Taiwan), among others, and many books, catalogs and calendars. A 2018 exhibition received a NY Times Arts Section recommendation.

Teaching and Curatorial

Over 80 workshops and presentations have been given domestically and internationally at museums and art centers. Served as a juror for art exhibitions and art fairs, and as a guest curator at The Johnson Museum of Art.

In 2001 I began life as a full-time artist after a 16-year corporate career. I am fortunate to make my living sharing my visions in a medium to which I feel deeply connected. As a representational artist I have focused on hyper-realism with an emphasis on the design and texture of one-of-a-kind, hand-carved ceramic trompe l’oeil sculptures transformed into birch trees, charred wood and weathered logs. I have also created sculptures of ceramic realism to mimic pine and hardwoods.

I hold a BA from Ithaca College. My primary applied art training came in the form of two artist residencies studying with Ah Leon and four clay masters in Taiwan in 2004 and 2006. Both were funded in part by New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) grants.

I am fortunate that my works have become internationally recognized for their organic design and incredibly lifelike textures. They have been exhibited, awarded and collected on five continents. Over two dozen are included in public collections, including among others The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Everson Museum of Art.

Sculptures have been represented at some of the world’s top art and design fairs including Frieze NY, TEFAF Maastricht, Design Miami, Art Basel, The Salon: Art + Design (NY), Masterpiece London, FOG, and SOFA.

I have contributed artworks to over 160 exhibitions. In 2013 I had my first catalogued solo exhibition at Jason Jacques Gallery in Manhattan. The Appleton Museum of Art hosted my first solo museum exhibition in 2015. In 2016 I was recognized as the James Renwick Alliance’s Distinguished Artist in Ceramics at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In 2017 I was featured at Frieze NY as a solo artist with Jason Jacques Gallery, the first ceramics gallery ever invited to this prestigious international art fair. In 2024 a birch teapot became the first contemporary ceramic artwork acquired into Winterthur Museum’s acclaimed Dupont historic clay collection. In 2025 I was honored  to be a Joan Mitchell Fellowship nominee. Awards include 13 top prizes.

Artworks have appeared in dozens of American art periodicals as well as in Taiwanese and Chinese art magazines. Works are also included in several books. A February 2018 solo show at Jason Jacques Gallery was recommended in the New York Times Arts Section as one of the top 12 exhibitions to see in New York City.

I have presented and lectured throughout the USA, in Canada and Taiwan, including at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Appleton Museum of Art, Everson Museum of Art, Mint Museum, Taipei Yingge Ceramics Museum, Gregg Museum of Art & Design, and Pratt MWP Art Institute, among others. In 2008 I served as a guest curator for a ceramics exhibition at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University and have juried art fairs and exhibitions.

My influences include the historic Yixing teapots of the 1600s, Japanese wabi sabi philosophy, Asian calligraphy and paintings, L. C. Tiffany glass windows, and of course birch trees – the angels of the forest.

In 2021 I was an artist in residence at Starworks in North Carolina, funded in part by a North Carolina Arts Council grant. While there I worked in both the ceramics studio and glass hot shop. Having found an alter-ego in shiny translucent glass, I began making cast and pate de verre glass objects as a complement to my works in clay. I furthered exploration during two residencies at Monte Azul Center for the Arts in Costa Rica, funded in part by a North Carolina Arts Council Grant, a South Arts grant, and the generosity of supportive patrons and friends. The result is a completed new body of work that has been featured in galleries, two museum solo exhibitions, and included in the esteemed Corning New Glass Review highlighting contemporary trends in glass.