artist statement

My reason for creating art is contained in the final object, its form and color. I try to make a shape that has its own dynamic and energy, with a bit of playfulness added. Some can be seen as figures, but many are simply pods, loaves, standing blocks, or just chunks of color. Each piece speaks for itself, and I hope the viewer will relate to it directly without needing a title or information to enjoy it. There is no correct interpretation; your response is the right one.

All my work is hand built using sculpture clay, and bisque fired to cone 3. I then use low­fire glazes, underglazes and stains, epoxy and occasionally acrylic paint. Pieces are glazed and finished sometimes months after making the form, and re-finding its energy is always a good challenge. All my pieces are constructed so they can live outdoors in the San Francisco Bay Area climate.

biography

Nina Else grew up in Portola Valley, California, went to Peninsula School in Menlo Park and then to high school in Montevideo, Uruguay. She graduated from San Jose State College in 1973 with a BA in painting. In 1989 she started to transition from painting, print making and collage, to hand­built ceramic sculpture. She was affiliated with the co­operative Gallery House in Palo Alto from 1984 to 1998, and her ceramic work has been handled by Virginia Breier Gallery in San Francisco, Solomon Dubnick Gallery and Exploding Head Gallery in Sacramento, Chapline Gallery in Stinson Beach, and Tercera Gallery in Palo Alto. She has been an exhibiting member of the Association of Clay and Glass Artists of California since 1995.