Lorraine Lipani

     Though I enjoy throwing clay on the wheel for functional ware, my real challenge is creating sculpture. Nature and mythology inspire forms that are curious and primitive, often playful. Pieces in a series express an ongoing conversation in gesture and imagery.

     Currently, I am working on several series. One is of decorative plates with bas-relief carved horse-and-rider motifs. These “Piatti da Pompa,” are my version of the Renaissance wall art, and express joy in a life with horses. The “Water Girl” series of female torsos features a small basin to hold water as a precious element. A trio of vases in “Curiosity Takes Root” explore gestures of new growth.

     Sculptures are most often constructed of slabs or coils of clay melded together. Finished pieces are fired in an electric kiln, enhanced with stains and glazes. I use a mid-range stoneware clay, a warm red, with majolica glazes.

     Lipani has had a life with horses since she moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and learned to ride at 40. The raw beauty of the Southwest inspires her still, as do the rhythms of Indigenous cultures that honor earth, fire, water and air, and all sentient beings. She and her wife, artist Jolly Smith, enjoyed living on a small ranch in the mountains north of Taos with their horses and art studios for many years. Lipani and Smith moved to the Sea Ranch in 2013, with their horses, called by the ocean and the redwoods.

     Lipani grew up in 1950’s Brooklyn, NY, and attended an upstate university during the late 1960’s. She was a liberal arts literature major, with a minor in art and creative writing. The chaotic times shaped her sense of social justice, while the influx of Eastern philosophies encouraged an interest in mysticism.

     Trained as a massage therapist at the Edgar Cayce Foundation, she kept a private practice for 40 years, published articles and taught natural health care. She studied ceramics for several years at UMass, Amherst, and privately with New England potters Carol Sevick, and Terry Rumble. She is also a poet. Her book of love poems, “Wild Solitude,” received an Indie Excellence award. The collection reflects on the palpable presence of love in Nature, and in interspecies relationships.

 

               Exhibition Highlights

Lorraine Lipani has exhibited her works since 1988 in fine art galleries nationwide. In Santa Fe NM: Stephenson Gallery, Lightside Gallery. In Taos NM: Art Divas Gallery, Blue Moon Gallery, Clay and Fiber Gallery, Lo Fino Gallery. In Albuquerque NM: Mariposa Gallery, KiMo Theatre Gallery. In Philadelphia PA: Garden Accents Gallery and the Philadelphia Flower Show. In New Orleans LA: Wyndy Morehead Fine Arts. In Scottsdale AZ: Wilde Meyer Gallery. In Laguna Beach CA: Ruby Wallflower Gallery. In Malibu CA: Tops Gallery. In Gualala, CA: Gualala Arts exhibits and Serenity Garden Gallery.