BIOGRAPHY

Molly Altman (b. 1995) is a ceramic artist who works directly with her local floral ecology to 
create intricate porcelain sculptures. Altman obtained a BA in ceramics from Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont in 2019. Her experience includes Artist Residencies at Green River Pottery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Recipiente Estudio in Mexico City, and Cobb Mountain Art and Ecology in Loch Lomond, California. She has taught and shown work nationally and internationally and her works are featured in private and public collections including the Bennington College Permanent Collection and the Minnesota Museum of American Art. Altman is currently an Artist-in-Residence at the Carbondale Clay Center in Carbondale, Colorado.  

ARTIST STATEMENT

Symmetry and chaos, ephemerality and ruthlessness, immediacy and age– these qualities of the natural world serve as guiding forces in my ceramic work’s process and aesthetic. Themes of environmental degradation, resilience, and impermanence are evoked by my work, in which nature frequently steps beyond the role of inspiration and is brought into the studio to become a direct collaborator. Intricate in detail and frequently large in stature, my sculptures incorporate flora sourced from Carbondale, Colorado, which I dip in porcelain and fire. Through this process, I deconstruct what is familiar—leaves, flowers, vines, grasses—reducing them to the roots of their forms, and then assemble them on hand-built sculptural scaffolds to create micro- environments which reflect their ecology of origin. The work serves to celebrate the abundance of ecological awe in the Roaring Fork Valley and invites viewers to reconsider their connections to our vulnerable, ephemeral environment.  

Instagram: @molly_alt_
Website: mollyaltman.com