Since 1990, I have made ceramic birds. As planters and bowls, they nurture the spaces they hold. One time a tall bird looked a little bare, so I made a clay dress for her. When the dress didn’t fit, I hung it on the wall and saw the bird’s absence reflected her presence. An indirect narrative grew from a deep river of stories both told and untold: I portrayed famous women and nursery rhymes: - Joan of Arc, Cleopatra, Marilyn, Scheherazade, Four and Twenty Blackbirds. Words and symbols reflect the way we dress our naked souls with opinions and ideas.

I would like this work to reflect threads of my experience in my skin and in this political world, with a prayer that we and our children will rise in simple flight above repression, abuse and discrimination to be the creative, graceful and beautiful people we were born to be. My creative practice brings me home to this ideal.

Learn more about artist Joanna Angell on the web at:
http://www.joannaangell.com
Instagram: @Joanna.angell.art