Crystal Morey grew up in a small town in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California. Her surroundings embedded her with an appreciation for the natural world and gave her an understanding of plant and animal life cycles. She spent her free time swimming in lakes and rivers, climbing trees, hiking in the snow, and exploring and building forts out in the forest. These early experiences filled her life with joy, imagination, and a tendency toward inward contemplation.
Currently living in Oakland, California, the urban landscape of her daily life is a stark contrast to the mountains and trees of her formative years. Her experience of living in this place is what inspires her work today. Morey aims to show the stresses in our cohabitation through her sculptures of humans, animals, the environment and the delicate dependencies we share. Her ceramic sculptures display a lifelong confluence with an organic world that is both beautiful and deeply troubled by human industry. Morey hopes to raise awareness about these urgent issues while also showing our humanity, ingenuity, and ability to be flexible and innovate as species.