Tributary

       Michelle Gregor

 

 ‘All our final decisions are made in a state of mind that is not going to last.’

“Toutes nos décisions finales sont prises dans un état d’esprit qui ne va pas durer.”

Marcel Proust

                                                                                           

 

“Art is a tributary that runs deeply through the great creative current of humanity. 

 

The process of sculpture in clay, with its slow beginning, heavy physicality, and transformation through both water and fire, is compelling. The process of painting moves at a different cadence and improvisation rules. Overall, intuitive logic presides in a process-oriented practice. The long conversation between artist and material takes many courses—a wandering dialogue.

 

Water acts as an important medium for color development on fired clay as well as on canvas and paper. It pools, and drips to follow contours; it dries slowly and reveals a beautiful life of its own.

                                                                                                        

Where the confluence of abstraction and figuration meet, relationships between figure and ground are explored. My intention is to articulate something of the precious resource that animates and surrounds us.” – Michelle Gregor, 2016

Biography

San Francisco Bay Area artist Michelle Gregor creates sculptures in high fire ceramic and bronze. Her work has been described as lyrical, graceful and spiritual.

Her architectural sculpture graces the exterior of the Olympic Club on Sutter Street in San Francisco and an interior space at the Spa at Pebble Beach. Her figurative sculptures in bronze and ceramic can also be found in private homes, offices, and gardens of private collectors. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a Master of Fine Arts degree from San Francisco State University.

“Michelle Gregor is a neoclassic ceramics sculptor with a contemporary flavor, inspired by the urban diversity of the San Francisco Bay Area and informed by previous travel to Bali and southeast Asia. The profiles of her lovely early works show kinship with Gandhara stone temple figures of the 4th century. The artist’s figurative work is distinctly heroic and robust, with sensuous volumes, lively muscularity and soft areas of vivid color.”- Susannah Israel, April 2011, from a review in Ceramic Art & Perception of the show Transcendent at the Pence Gallery, Davis CA

The power in Gregor’s work lies in its visual beauty and connection to figurative art across time and around the world. It is a rare pleasure to engage with her work.