san francisco artist

February Updates

Art is the weapon against darkness and ignorance, it is the light that shines in the blackest of nights.”  -Unknown
Premonition of War
19x11x8 inches, stoneware, stains, glazes
I am thrilled this sculpture will be on display at the Figure exhibition in California. It is truly a privilege to have my work shown at the Epperson Gallery and be selected by Michelle Gregor. The timing of its creation also gives me shivers, as I started the sculpture in December of 2021 and finished it in January of 2022, just before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

Exhibition dates: February 17- April 16, 2023
Opening Reception: February 25, 4-6pm

Epperson Gallery 
1400 Pomona Street
Crockett, CA 94525
Join me at the beautiful Beatrice Wood Art Center in Ojai, California for an unforgettable experience in April! We’ll be working outside surrounded by the natural beauty of the mountains of Happy Valley, as you learn new techniques and unleash your imagination, capturing the creative energy of the area, a place filled with light and the spirituality of many dedicated artists and thinkers.

With clay anything is possible, just bring your idea and we’ll convert it into a surrealist totem! All levels are welcome!
Bay area friends, mark your calendars! The third week in April I will be between San Francisco and Crockett where I’ll be teaching another 2 day workshop at Epperson Gallery.

I will guide you through my process of creating sculptural ceramic objects inspired by dreams, mythology and storytelling. First day will begin with a slide presentation and the hands-on demonstration of hand building techniques, including sculpting faces and hands. On the second day, we’ll focus on surface treatments, using slips, underglazes, and the sgraffito technique to create vibrant, dynamic surfaces. Once completed, your masterpieces will be fired in the kilns. A few people have registered, but there are still spots available. Email Suzanne Long: suzannelong@eppersongallery.com and indicate you are signing up for the Sculpted Dreams Workshop.

Schedule: April 22nd-23rd, 2023, 10am to 4pm.Pricing: $275 Payable via Check or Credit Card.
Looking forward to sharing my passion for clay sculpting with new and old mud people.

The 2nd Annual Inside and Out Sculpture Exhibit with NESA had several of my sculptures on display. https://nesculptors.org/exhibit/2nd-annual-inside-and-out-exhibition/ Thank you for your votes! 

Exhibition dates: January 13 – February 24, 2023
Closing Reception and Audience Choice Awards Announcement
February 24, 5:30 – 7:30pm Spaulding R. Aldrich Heritage Gallery
50 Douglas Road, Whitinswille, MA

For the month of February I ran a fundraiser to support the young artists of the Aza Nizi Maza art school in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Please consider donating to this worthy cause and help support the next generation of artists! Your contribution will go towards providing resources and education for these young artists. This incredible school is in its 10th year and had more than 60 exhibitions. At the beginning of the war, it was a bomb shelter. Since then, the students at Aza Nizi Maza continue to use their talents to give voice to the struggles and experiences of Ukraine. I believe that investing in future generations is crucial. Together, we can make a difference and help these committed students continue to create and reach their full potential during these challenging times!
Here is the link to the donations:
https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/8R9wlwj96Y

SF Open Studios Gold Virtual Event–October 8, 4-8pm PT

This year I am pleased to open my studio to visitors from all over the world.

www.artspan.org/sfos

Join me virtually at SF Open Studios: Gold event on October 8 from 4-8pm to see where the magic happens!

This virtual event is free and open to all. It is a wonderful opportunity to ask me questions about my work and practice and experience California’s Bay Area art scene from wherever you are. Tune in from your corner of the world and register now!

See you soon!

Made in Rome: artist talk and virtual studio visit June 28!

La Ragazza con Gelato, stoneware, stains, 2018

To say I got inspired by Rome during my art residency in 2018 is an understatement. I treasure every moment of my month there, and the memories will definitely last for a lifetime! Every day, as I worked in the studio, my work was infused with the spirit of ancient Roman archetypes, Renaissance and Baroque museum masterpieces and local contemporary energy. Everything is so interconnected, layered and mixed in this ancient city. Living this deep in history, the boundary between the distant past and the commonplace daily life dissolves.
The collection of pieces I’ll be presenting is inspired by the antique history and mythology of Rome intertwined with everyday contemporary activities. A lion wanders around with someone who used to be Cybele in a bygone age, but now the lion has his freedom and no longer has to pull her carriage, while she tries on sunglasses and dreams of mediterranean excursions. Another pair, a poodle and a patrician, no longer interested in machiavellian schemes, now delight in taking selfies and showing off their power curls.  A Pegasus finally arrives to visit a poet who had been waiting for millenia to be reunited with his swiftly traveling brother.  The arc of the poet’s thoughts and dreams finally reached the Pegasus and provided a bridge to our world.
Join me for the artist talk and virtual studio visit on June 28th. Along with the fruits of my labor from Rome, I’ll be showing images of and telling stories about the masterpieces I was inspired by. Looking forward to sharing this amazing experience with you!
June 28th, 3-4pm PT

Colossus of Constantine in the Courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori

Pegasus Visit, stoneware, stains, 2018

 

I am also pleased to announce that I will be featured by Pence Gallery in Davis, CA at the Rare Birds exhibition. Two pieces  were selected for this show by the art director and curator Natalie Nelson.
Exhibition runs: Jun. 2-Jul. 2, 2020
As of June 2nd, Pence Gallery is open for appointments from Monday to Friday, 10 AM – 5 PM.
Please call 530-758-3370 to make an appointment.

https://www.pencegallery.org/Exhibits_2020/06_jun/rare_birds.html

Here is also a link to the video I made for this exhibition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Si-zZcwWJ8&t=29s

Early Bird Brings Lucid Dreams
7x7x4 inches
glass, porcelain, china paint

2020

Face to Face: Harnessing the Virtual

We’ve made it through two months of quarantine! Adjusting to the new distancing measures, I started hosting virtual studio visits. I had my misgivings about dealing with zoom meetings but it turned out to be stimulating and fun so I will continue to invite and talk about my work with virtual visitors. The next visit will be May 24th, 3-4pm PT. I will be sharing a series spanning the last decade, from Shell Dwellers to Escapists, looking more in-depth into this particular body of work. Showing images and my actual sculptures, I’ll talk about the development, inspirations, techniques and concepts behind my works and share with you what is growing in my studio. We’ll also have Q&A session at the end of this event. Looking forward to seeing you through the screen!

Face-to-Face: Artist Talk & Virtual Studio Visit, part 2

Zoom: https://sfsu.zoom.us/j/94085889585?pwd=aElyNVd5LzNZZHdhRmFkeXg5NHFQQT09

promotional video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY_bHSOfHCQ&feature=youtu.be

Meet the new owners of my diptych I Found My Pearl in San Francisco! Megan and Andrew told me they can’t go to the ocean right now but this piece will bring the ocean to them. I am happy to know my work is helping people make it through the challenge of shelter-in-place.

I am also happy to report that the Serenity Exhibition at UCSF Women’s Health Center on Sutter Street in San Francisco has been extended until September.

Stay safe and be healthy!

2019 Bioneers Conference

Very happy to be included in the futuristic vision of the @bioneers this weekend at their annual conference! Two pieces outdoors are surrounded by the beautiful Marin hills, as well as other imaginative outdoor sculptures. One is inside at the exhibition hall and keeps great company in this fantastic show of innovative creators. The exhibition hall and the grounds of the Marin Center in San Rafael are free and open to the public this weekend. Stop by to see and get inspired about the future!


https://conference.bioneers.org/

About the conference:

Bioneers is an innovative nonprofit organization that highlights breakthrough solutions for restoring people and planet. Founded in 1990 in Santa Fe, New Mexico by social entrepreneurs Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons, we act as a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges.

A celebration of the genius of nature and human ingenuity, Bioneers connects people with solutions and each other. Our acclaimed annual national conference and local Bioneers Network events are complemented by extensive media production including a vibrant online media presence, award-winning radio and podcast series, book series, and role in third-party media projects such as Leonardo DiCaprio’s movie The 11th Hour and Michael Pollan’s best-selling book The Omnivore’s Dilemma.

Our dynamic programs and initiatives focus on game-changing initiatives related to Restorative Food Systems, Biomimicry, Rights of Nature, Indigeneity, Women’s Leadership and Youth Leadership.

In 2017, Ausubel and Simons were honored for the work of Bioneers by Japan’s Goi Peace Award, whose past recipients include Bill Gates, scientist James Lovelock of the Gaia Hypothesis, Nigerian pro-democracy activist Hafsat Abiola-Costello and Deepak Chopra.

Aquatics of the French Riviera

The Mediterranean sea is beautiful in September! I have returned from my travels and projects in the south of France and am excited to share some of my new work and inspirations with San Francisco. I met Lauren Kearns during our residency together at Valauris in 2016, where we became great friends. She invited me to San Raphael, where she brings ceramic artists from all over the world to work and teach. We had our two-person exhibition called “Elements” on the 21st of September. The opening reception went well, with many of the local people in attendance and I got to practice my French. I was also invited to show my works at Faune Galleria in Antibes right next to the Picasso museum! I am happy my Aquatics are living in the French Riviera now.

My two-week residency in the south of France culminated in a series of sculptures which meditate on merging the smooth, polished and manicured aspects of civilized architecture with the rough, overgrown and wild elements of unpopulated forests and beaches. Translating my daily experience of socializing with the Mediterranean water creatures like corals and medusas, or the beautiful pine trees with their intricate cones, then walking back into the meticulously clean and organized town of San Raphael, my sculptures take on similarly multi-layered aspects and reveal rough, spontaneous textures beneath smooth and shiny skins.

After the bisque firing

 

 

“I’ll Take You to See the Future”

UPWARD she looks through a rose colored lens,

“I will take you to the future”
Her bottom lip bends,

Optimism and clarity is what her gift lends,

Her origin unknown, so your wonder deepens;

‘How may I meet her?’
Well that depends,

The sick, sad, impoverished are the ones who she mends,

Granting insight to happiness is her means to an end

Her power is priceless, for it is time she defends.

Poem inspired by the multi-talented Bjorn Rojas, one of my workshop attendees.

“Adele”
“Aqua Lady”
 
Antibes, France

Closing reception for Evolution of Shell Dweller

Evolution of Shell Dweller is up and running for the whole month of June. It is so much fun to see visitors dwell in the big shell! You still have time to step into the aquatic universe and add your presence to the wall of polaroids. I hope to see you at the closing reception where I will elaborate on the origin stories behind my work!

Closing Reception: June 29th, 4 – 7pm
Artist talk at 5pm

Show runs June 1st – 30th

Abrams Claghorn Gallery

1251 Solano Ave, Albany CA 94706

Phone: 510.526.9558

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last week of Sculpture Now!

I am very happy to have two of my sculptures in this important show, Sculpture Now, at the Peninsula Museum of Art in Burlingame, CA. It comes down next weekend so go visit soon!

Peninsula Museum of Art
1777 California Drive
Burlingame, CA 94010
650.692.2101

This exhibition presents works by 25 Pacific Rim Sculptors focusing on serious social or environmental issues challenging our country and planet and resulting in humanitarian crises: pollutants damage our atmosphere to the point of extreme climate change, fires, crop failures; insecticides and industrial wastes poison our land and waterways; and discarded plastic chokes our oceans and kills already over-fished marine life. Scarce resources lead to strife. Borders close to desperate, asylum-seeking refugees and children are torn from their parents.  In these times of unprecedented and rapid change, artists’ voices need to be heard more than ever.

JUROR:
Brigitte Micmacker, Owner of Sculpturesite Gallery (previously A New Leaf Gallery), has owned and operated galleries for 28 years and counting. 

Happenings in the year of the Yellow Dog

Lots of momentum in the new year and I am looking forward to sharing work in shows all over the country!

 

Deconstructing the Conversation

Several of my pieces will be at the 52nd Annual Conference of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. CrossCurrents: Clay and Culture, is the theme for NCECA’s 2018 conference and reflects Pittsburgh as a city of rivers, bridges, complex immigrant history, gritty perseverance, and reinvention.

Morgan Contemporary Glass Gallery is hosting a collection of fantastic ceramic artists and I am honored to be included in the show:

February 2 – March 31, 2018

http://www.morganglassgallery.com/shows.htm


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Art Palm Springs

Also in February, my work will be represented by Maria Elena Kravetz Gallery at Art Palm Springs, the premier art fair in the Southwest presenting post-war and contemporary art. The seventh annual edition will bring nearly 80 galleries from Asia, Europe, North and South America representing hundreds of artists to the Palm Springs Convention Center. I’m excited to be part of this cultural mecca and meet some of the 15,000 visitors of the Fair!

Palm Springs Convention Center

Thursday, February 15: 5-9pm VIP
Friday, February 16 to Monday, February 19

http://www.art-palmsprings.com/

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Three Generations: Moving Beyond Boundaries

In March, I am very excited to share the gallery at Abrams Claghorn with my stepfather and my daughter, a painter and a fiber artist, respectively. This exhibition showcases three different approaches to the question of place. All three of us carry our worlds within, irrespective of our geographic location. Yet we each find a distinct path, transcending limitations of language and focusing on our individual gift of imagination, sharing our worlds of possibilities and transformation.

Abrams Claghorn Gallery

March 6 – April 1

http://abramsclaghorn.com/three-generations-of-immigrant-artists-moving-beyond-boundaries/

 

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Fahrenheit 2018

My work was chosen to be included at Fahrenheit 2018, a juried exhibition at the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona, CA. Patti Warashina served as the juror and selected work from 80 artists from across the country. I am very honored to be sharing the museum gallery with so much talent!

March 10, 2018 – July 22, 2018

Reception: Saturday, March 10, 2018, 6-9pm
Patti Warashina, Juror Presentation, 7:00pm

AMOCA
399 N Garey Ave
Pomona, CA 91767
Museum: 909.865.3146

www.amoca.org/fahrenheit2018/

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Fantastical Creatures

In April, I will be teaching a workshop in the beautiful San Miguel de Allende in Mexico! I am looking forward to exploring this historic area and sharing skills and techniques for clay hand-building and 3D visual storytelling.

April 16-20

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

https://www.sanmigueldeallendeceramicworkshops.com/2018-workshops

Stay tuned for updates and more images!

Upcoming Winter Shows!

It is an exciting upcoming weekend with back-to-back openings!
Happy to be invited to install the Heavenly Hundred and to show several other sculptures at the Retrospective 10th Year Anniversary Celebration exhibition at Inclusions Gallery!
Opening reception:
Thursday, December 7, 6-9pm
Exhibition runs:
December 7, 2017 – January 14, 2018
Inclusions Gallery
627 Cortland Ave, San Francisco, CA 94110
Tiny Show at Pence Gallery is coming up and two of my pieces, Aku and La Luna, will be there. I am happy to be included in this amazing collection of art by top local and regional artists.
Opening reception:
Friday, December 8, 6-9 PM
Show runs:
December 2 – December 24
Pence Gallery
212 D Street, Davis, CA 95616

Craft Rebels is a group show at Abrams Claghorn Gallery, featuring Bay Area artists who use traditional craft approaches to make work in response to current events and social issues. My wall figures and free standing sculptures will be a part of this fun show!

Opening reception:
Saturday, December 9, 5-7 pm
Show runs:
December 3 – January 31
Abrams Claghorn Gallery
1251 Solano Ave. Albany CA 94706

Generous Kingdom II is an exhibition that explores symbolism, narrative and beyond. My sculpture, Unspoken Sorrows, was selected to be a part of this show at Verum Ultimum Gallery in Portland, Oregon!

Generous Kingdom II Opening Reception:
December 2, 6-8pm

Verum Ultimum Gallery
3014 NE Ainsworth, Portland, OR 97211

Copyright © 2024 Natasha Dikareva