Courtney Mattison

Lives and works in San Francisco, CA, USA

Artist statement

I create enormous and intricate ceramic sculptural works that visualize climate change through the fragile beauty of marine life. My large-scale, meticulously designed wall reliefs are often composed of hundreds or thousands of individually hand-crafted and glazed stoneware and porcelain pieces that celebrate the diversity and complexity of invertebrate animals inhabiting coral reefs, such as corals, anemones, sponges and tunicates. I sculpt hollow forms by pinching together coils of clay and use simple tools to texture each piece, often poking thousands of holes to mimic the repetitive growth of coral colonies. My glazes reflect the vibrant tones and textures of a healthy reef, often juxtaposed against white glazes to emphasize the stark contrast of coral bleaching on reefs stricken by warming seas. The fragility and chemical makeup of my work parallels that of a living coral, as calcium carbonate is both a common glaze ingredient and the compound precipitated by corals from seawater to “sculpt” their stony skeletons. By bringing the seemingly-alien forms of marine invertebrates above the surface and into view, my work aims to spark a sense of wonder in viewers that inspires them to protect the natural environment upon which we all depend.

Artwork