About
Internationally recognized artist and ocean advocate, Courtney Mattison, hand-crafts intricate and large-scale ceramic sculptural works that visualize climate change through the fragile beauty of marine life. Her background in marine conservation science informs her work, which has been commissioned for permanent collections including those of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Art in Embassies in Indonesia and Destination by Hyatt’s Seabird Resort in Oceanside, California. Her exhibition history includes solo shows at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, and ICA San Diego/North, where she was Artist in Residence. Curated group exhibitions include “Iris Van Herpen. Sculpting the Senses” at MAD Paris, “Fragile Earth” at the Brandywine Museum of Art and “Beijing 2022” at the U.S. Ambassador’s Residence in China. In 2020, the United Nations Postal Administration published Mattison’s work on a stamp to commemorate Earth Day. Born in 1985, Mattison received an interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts degree in marine ecology and ceramic sculpture from Skidmore College in 2008 and a Master of Arts degree in environmental studies from Brown University with thesis coursework at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2011. Her work has been featured on the covers of American Craft, Nature, Beaux Arts and Brown Alumni magazines, and by Smithsonian Magazine, Good Morning America, Oprah Magazine and BBC World Service. She lives and works in San Francisco.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I create enormous and intricate ceramic sculptural works inspired by the beauty and fragility of marine life in response to human-caused threats. I sculpt hollow forms by pinching together coils of clay and use simple tools to texture pieces by hand, often poking thousands of holes to mimic the repetitive growth of coral colonies. Hundreds of individual pieces are finished and fired using a color palette of glazes that I have developed to reflect the vibrant tones and textures of healthy marine invertebrate communities, often juxtaposed against white glazes to emphasize the stark contrast of coral bleaching on reefs stricken by climate change. It is essential that the medium of my work be ceramic, as calcium carbonate happens to be both a glaze ingredient and the compound precipitated by corals to sculpt their stony structures. Not only does the chemical makeup of my work parallel that of a natural reef, but porcelain tentacles and the bodies of living corals share a sense of fragility that compels observers to look but not touch.
conservation
The production of ceramic sculptural work requires a significant amount of energy to fire kilns, power and ventilate the studio and transport pieces. Courtney makes every effort to recycle, reduce waste and water consumption, purchase bulk and local materials and only fire full kilns. She also works with conservation organizations such as Mission Blue, an initiative of the Sylvia Earle Alliance founded by legendary oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle to inspire “a sea change in public awareness and support for a global network of marine protected areas—Hope Spots—ranging from the deepest ocean to sunlit reefs and from the seamounts of the high seas to coastal seagrass meadows." By raising awareness about the importance of Hope Spots, Mission Blue inspires action to explore and protect the ocean.
