A self-described “artivist,” San Francisco-native Courtney Mattison says she looks to science and marine biology for inspiration for her hand-crafted porcelain works. She states:
“I create work that celebrates the exotic forms of ocean flora and fauna in concert with their biological complexity, diversity and vulnerability in the face of human-caused threats such as climate change, ocean acidification, overfishing and land-based pollution. Perhaps if my work can influence policy makers and the public to appreciate the fragile beauty of our endangered marine ecosystems we will act more wholeheartedly to conserve them.”
This June Mattison exhibited Our Changing Seas III at the Tang Museum. The artist told This Is Colossal that the work refers to healthy and colorful coral reefs surrounded by the “sterile skeletons” of reef that have undergone bleaching, a process in which a reef in stress expels symbiotic algae which are responsible for pigmentation. Proceeds of Mattison’s work go to benefit marine conservation organizations and organizations which fight climate change.
Above image: The artist with Our Changing Seas III. Photograph by Arthur Evans. Courtesy of the artist.
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Courtney Mattison, Our Changing Seas III, 2014, glazed stoneware and porcelain, 120 x 168 x 22 inches. Shown at the Francis Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery.
Courtney Mattison, Our Changing Seas II, 2013, glazed stoneware and porcelain, fiberboard, aluminum, 105 x 36 x 72 inches. On permanent display at the Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center. Photographs courtesy of the artist.
Courtney Mattison, U.S. Capitol Building, 2013, porcelain, 12 x 6 x 7 inches. From the One Nation Under Water series.
Courtney Mattison
Video of Courtney Mattison’s Our Changing Seas II at the Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center.
Courtney Mattison’s Hope Spots at the Jackson Street Gallery in San Francisco. Video from Deb Castellana.
The creation by the artist is simply amazing. As such we would like to get the replica of the same. We are museum professionals from India. Could you please let us know the procedures for obtaining the same.
S Ghosh