Shelley Spira Burns

Originally from Chicago,  Shelley now lives in Northern California and works out of her studio in Sonoma.  She studied painting, drawing, and clay techniques with various experts both in the US and at La Meridiana in Italy.  Earlier in her life, she was a psychotherapist, spent several years assisting in an archaeology lab where she dug, sorted and identified artifacts found on the grounds of the San Francisco Presidio, and interned in the ethnographic department of an auction house.  Shelley holds a Certificate in the Appraisal of Fine and Decorative Arts from University of California, Irvine, an MA from University of Chicago, and a BA from University of Illinois, Urbana. 

“My approach to abstract sculpture is driven by my interest in the elements of form and the unique qualities of clay, specifically,  plasticity and strength. Using hand-rolled coils, I try to construct work that conveys tension, movement and energy.

”I see the process of making art as a combination of disciplined self expression and problem solving.  Although for me, it is mostly an intuitive process, the final piece is still an implicit statement of my mood and thoughts at the time of creating it.  I prefer that people make their own connection with my sculptures,  and for that reason, I avoid naming each piece.

Clay is one of the oldest sculptural materials.  The history of the earth and the remnants of civilizations are present in every handful. Its smell when wet, its tactility, its invitation for immersion and total engagement connects me to something much bigger than myself. It reminds me that my work is temporary and will at some point be returned to the earth.

Abstract works of modern artists such as Coper, Moore, Arp, Duckworth and Brancusi influence my views. Cycladic forms.  Ancient art.  Modernism and primitivism.”

— Shelley Spira Burns