Lorraine Lipani

Earth, fire, water, and air—clay keeps me in touch with the elements of life. It has taught me to center myself in Beginner’s Mind so that I allow intuition a hand in shaping a sculpture.

Though I enjoy throwing clay on the wheel, sculpture is the focus of my clay works. Coil and slab hand-building techniques draw on indigenous traditions from various lands, particularly PuebIo Indian and African cultures, while Etruscan and Greek pottery works inspire the shapes and forms.

I have kept a studio of my own since the 1980s, and I work in several ongoing series: “Piatti” are carved bas-relief plates based on a popular Renaissance art form. Some feature horse and rider motifs, and others female athletes. Sculptures in the “Water Girl” series hold water as precious in your garden—an earthy female carries a small basin on her head. Two ongoing series explore inner masculine and feminine archetypes. Other abstract sculptures play with gesture, color, and whimsy.

My works have been exhibited in galleries in Santa Fe, Taos and Albuquerque, Philadelphia, Scottsdale, New Orleans, Malibu, Laguna Beach, and Los Angeles. More recently I enjoy showing with the Discovery Gallery in Gualala and on The Studio Discovery Tour.