Artist Statement

Emily Schuhmann is a boston based ceramic artist creating whimsical vessels, vases and sculpture that feature botanical textures. 

She collects and casts plants and flowers that carry regional specificity and seasonal ephemerality. These intricate surfaces are transferred to the clay and reformed into vases and sculpture whose tilts, textures, leans, and wobbles echo the quirks and irregularities of the natural world. The resulting playful forms recall elements of folklore and garden iconography like gnomes, while nodding to ornate and decorative ceramic traditions like the tiered Tulipieres of 17th-century Holland.  Intended to be used as vases and refilled with living plant material Schuhmann’s work invites viewers and collectors into continuing contemplation and relationships with the natural world. 

Her use of replicative mold-making techniques are applied both for archival purposes and as a tool for design, highlighting the many ways we collect, design with, design for, and connect with nature and the natural world. The final forms, often referencing familiar animal figures and organic shapes while fulfilling traditional functions such as vases, cups, or plates, resist static classification.