Anne Russell

My work brings expressive line into play in flowing, curvilinear forms and organic, weathered materials. I work figuratively because I believe that recognizable human and animal forms afford entry into the symbolic and subconscious while remaining accessible to the viewer. Figurative work also allows me to explore the fascinating fact of bodies - human and otherwise - in interaction with the world. Our bodies are our constant and inescapable means of meeting the world around us. I use stories, archetypes and allegories to explore this most elemental of human experiences: the joy and pain of being here, now, in the flesh.

Life in the body also means aging, change, and imperfection. The Japanese concept of “wabi-sabi” values not only the physical beauty of imperfect, aged objects, but the emotional impact carried by forms and materials that remind us of the passage of time and of our own finite lives. Clay is infinitely malleable and responds eloquently to the intense transformation it undergoes through high temperature firing in the kiln. I work with the alchemy of the kiln to bring this same organic, weathered quality to raw clay. In many pieces the clay then joins with weathered metal in a harmonious and happily imperfect whole.

Anne Russell studied art in Laval, France, at Gonzaga University, and in the Bay Area of Northern California. She has lived in Santa Fe, NM since 2004. Her work has won numerous awards and is in private collections throughout the U.S.