Artist Biography

Colorado based ceramic sculptor, Denae Statzer grew up in a traditional household for the majority of her life which drastically changed during her high school years. This experience as it happened and how it continues to affect her presently inspires her work. It evokes an exploration of uncomfortable human interactions, acknowledging memories, and their correlation to the constant cycle of ups and downs faced during a lifetime within her ceramic artwork. She explores these human interactions and recollections of memories in clay because she feels like it is the medium that pushes you to your limits, just like the happenings in life do. Her ceramic artwork is mostly organic abstraction, where she thinks about color pallets that you see in nature. She sometimes alters her work through texture to convey the rough parts that life gives us. In her recent work she has put emphasis on the rawness of her clay body by leaving sections of pieces unglazed because life is stock full of unconcealed, unprocessed, and natural emotions. She obtained her B.F.A with an emphasis in Ceramics as well as her B.A. in Art Education in the Spring of 2021. She currently lives in New Castle, CO teaching high school art at Basalt High School and making ceramic artwork.

Artist Statement

Growing up in a traditional Iowan household for the majority of my life meant I was quite sheltered from any real-life struggles. However, this drastically changed during my high school years after the divorce of my parents, and consequently this shift continues to affect and inspire the development of my artwork. Recently, I’ve begun to focus on non-familial relationships in my life. Specifically the variety of connection that exists in those relationships over the course of time and the interactions that leave a lifelong “core” memory. My ceramic sculptures aim to explore uncomfortable human interactions, acknowledging moments, and their correlation to the constant cycle of the ups and downs of one’s life. I am interested in these specific concepts because I regularly encounter these in my personal life. How they all intertwine together, how I navigate them, and how others around me encounter them is important to me. I explore the concepts of human interactions, dynamics, and recollections through clay because it is a medium that pushes an artist to their limits, just like life does. 

My ceramic forms dwell in the realm of organic abstraction. The sculptures I create display human related relationships to make the viewer pay attention to the small, subtle interaction transpiring between ceramic forms. I manipulate clay by using the processes of coil building and pinching to evoke a response from the clay that is unrefined, indefinite, and open to adaptation. I generally work within a fairly large scale and with a certain kind of spontaneity. This way of working changes as I respond to my previous clay additions to the form. Although, I have found a current liking to working at a small scale over the course of the last two years. It allows me to really hone in on texture and detail within the sculpture. Making work in this way allows me to fully engulf myself both emotionally and physically into it. Conceptually, I find this to be the most beneficial way to understand my own emotions, thoughts, and experiences. Some works are altered through texture to convey the ruggedness of life. I also consider how a piece with multiple parts works as a cohesive whole in regard to the addition of texture. Many of my more recent artworks, have an emphasis on the rawness of the clay form. I do this to express that life is full of unconcealed, unprocessed, and natural responses, it’s similar to how we respond to our own memories over time or how a personal interaction with someone can evoke such a response in us. My most recent work was made in response to graduating from college, starting my next “adventure” in life, and my experiences of healing and growing from past trauma. I have spent the better half of the last year or so learning deeply about how to heal myself and I felt it was necessary to document it in ceramic sculpture. I obtained my B.F.A with an emphasis in Ceramics as well as my B.A. in Art Education in the Spring of 2021. I currently reside in New Castle, CO, where I teach high school art at Basalt High School and continue to make ceramic artwork.