Larisa Stevenson
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Dawn

paperclay, cone 2, underglazes, raku fired

19" x 10" x 7"
2016

$475

This piece was meant to remind me of the early days when nature was unsullied by humans – the dawn of man. The figure is ambiguous in gender, yet youth, strength and a certain wonder or curiosity are evident.

For me, making art is like breathing, a necessity of life and obviously painful when absent.  It's part of my nature.  I began when I was a little Russian kid growing up in Kazakhstan, encouraged by my father who was a painter and wood carver.  In that place and time of the Soviet Union, it was expected of young girls to learn and practice some sort of practical craft.  He encourage my knitting and sewing to be done creatively and to make it useful to my art, as in doll making. He taught me to express myself through different mediums of art, whether it was painting, doll making, or ice-skating.  My father pushed me beyond the ordinary and instilled a love of art classics that very much remains today.

I discovered clay as an adult. After sculpting my first face, I was hooked for life. Clay responded to every movement of my hands. It is a three-dimensional form that molds, mutates and renews itself into a tangible life form. Although I also have done painting and doll making, clay became my absolute favorite medium. As my sculpting skills grew, I was able to express movement and emotions in my clay creations, whether portraits, figure, or animals. I love to sculpt them all.