statement
My work uses figures as votives to provide a point of connection for the human spirit. I first responded to this idea when I was eleven years old, traveling to Egypt with my grandparents and marveling at zoomorphic tools and animal figures. Those objects are highly symbolized and were sometimes used to illustrate godlike qualities. I perceive an important connection between animals, environmental health and human wellbeing. In my work, I contrast our modern consumerist approach to factory farming of animals and corporate mass production with the ancient celebrations of animals and deification of forces in the natural world. My porcelain animals and figures, similar to the saintly icons of the Baroque and Rococo periods, are highly decorated to capture the viewer’s attention and imply a sense of “value.” The detailed surface and intimate scale of my work also invites visual and tactile exploration, which helps viewers revel in an imagined borderland between the animal and human worlds.
It is human nature to explore the liminal space between truth and fiction, and it is also human nature to question. My archetypal figurines invite viewers in; their docile, disarming presence also surprises viewers with their contrary expression of both innocent and malicious questions. It is my intention that in spending time with the work, the veils that obscure our ability to perceive innate value start to disappear, revealing deeper, more reflexive truths about the viewer’s perception.
If an animal is scientifically engineered and then raised in a crowded factory setting, while advertised in the grocery store in a bucolic farm scene, what does that indicate about our ability to exist with truth? What does it say about society’s connection to the divine? These are things that I think about when working in my studio, trying to create narrative pieces that provoke thought, introspective consideration, and, ideally act as prayers for grace.
about
Veva Edelson was born and raised in San Francisco, California. She graduated from Humboldt State University in 1992 with a BA in Film Production and Studio Art and later did an independent study in clay sculpture at University of Washington. In 2006, she earned a scholarship to Penland School of Crafts, beginning a longstanding relationship with the school and surrounding community.
Her life’s work has been remarkably diverse and she has enjoyed various successes as a film collaborator, restaurateur, and ceramic sculptor. Her documentaries, Under The Floor Boards and Breasts, have been shown at the Humboldt and Anne Arbor Film Festivals, respectively. She has founded, owned, and operated two San Francisco restaurants, including the landmark Noe Valley’s Firefly Restaurant.Her work in ceramic sculpture has been exhibited across the United States, including The Signature Shop (Georgia), Quirk Gallery (Virginia), Penland Gallery (North Carolina), Adobe Bookstore Gallery (California), and NoneSuch Space Gallery (California).
She currently divides her time between the Penland community in Western North Carolina
and the Potrero Hill District of San Francisco. Her life and art continue to evolve.
exhibitions
2012 “Flock,” Quirk Gallery (VA)
2010 “Studio Artist Show,” The Signature Shop & Gallery (GA)
2008 “The Dog Days of Summer,” The Signature Shop & Gallery (GA)
*2007 “The Space Between,” NoneSuch Space (CA)
2006 “The Winter Show,” Firefly Restaurant (CA)
2006 “Window Box,” Farley’s Coffee (CA)
2006 “Configuration,” Penland Gallery (NC)
2005 “Clay, Paper, Metal,” LRM Gallery (CA)
2004 “Bow’s Art,” Adobe Gallery (CA)
2004 “Solstice,” LRM Gallery (CA)
1992 Breasts, Ann Arbor Film Festival (MI)
1990 “Winged Cups,” Van Duser Gallery (CA)
1990 Under the Floor Boards, Humboldt Film Festival (CA)
*solo show
other work
links