isys hennigar

With organic shapes, surface decoration and adornments, such as fish hooks and hand-cut metal, North Carolina ceramic artist Isys Hennigar explores the relationship between humans and the natural world, particularly that of Appalachia.

Artist: Grew up near Asheville and earned a BFA Studio Art from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 2017. In 2022, she received an MFA in ceramics from the University of Georgia. In between her college studies, Hennigar taught and managed a community ceramics studio.

Studio: Hennigar works in a solo studio near her home in Asheville. She moved back to western North Carolina about six months ago after completing her graduate degree at UGA.

In the beginning: Began working in ceramics a few years into college.

“I fell in love with the material immediately and spent every day I could in the ceramics studio for the remainder of my time at UNC,” she said.

Art: Large and small sculpture, including cups and vessels ($50 to $5,000).

Materials & process:

Pieces usually begin with a sketch and a general idea of surface information.
Forms are then hand built with clay, usually with slip-cast components.
Then glazed and re-fired multiple times as she builds the surface imagery in layers with china paint.
Most work also includes metal components, which are fitted after the firing process.

Favorite tool: X-Acto knife! She uses it throughout her process for cutting and carving clay, making stencils, drawing thin lines, and a host of other applications.

Inspirations:

Tools and vessels of all kinds
Recurring patterns, motifs and symbols in stories
Objects across cultures.

Fun or unusual commissions: Working in small metals as well as ceramics, she will sometimes take interesting jewelry or sculptural metal commissions. She currently working on an elaborate necklace commissioned with stones and glaze drips.

Recent awards/honors:

Philadelphia Museum Craft Show, Best in Ceramics, 2022.
UGA Willson Center Graduate Research Award, 2022.
Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist, 2021.

Recent project: A new body of work, part of which will be completed at Township10, an artists’ residency, in western North Carolina, March 6-April 10.

What’s next:

Solo exhibition at The Signature Contemporary Craft Gallery & Shop in Atlanta. Through Feb. 4
Group exhibition, “Materials Hard + Soft,” at the Greater Denton Arts Council, (Denton, TX), Feb. 3-May 6.
Group exhibition, “The Functional Canvas” at the Charlie Cummings Gallery in Gainesville, FL. April 12, 2023-May 2024.
Ceramics Invitational, Blue Spiral 1 gallery in Asheville, (November dates TBD).

Where to buy: