Lily Fein: Pinched and Patterned

Lucy Lacoste Gallery will present Pinched and Patterned, a solo exhibition of works by the ceramic artist Lily Fein from April 6th – May 4, 2024. This body of work represents Fein’s newest ceramic exploration into the poetry of pattern. This is Fein’s first solo exhibition since Lily Fein: In Response to George Ohr with the Gallery in 2020. Lily Fein will be present at the opening reception Saturday April 6, 6-8 pm and will give an artist talk on Sunday, April 7, 2:00 pm at the Gallery.

More than 30 unique vessels compose this exhibition which includes two illuminated vessels. The pieces are compact, usually not exceeding 9 inches in height, and yet seem to each contain a world of their own; their intimate scale adds to their consequence. All coiled and pinched porcelain, fired in a high temperature reduction kiln that produces elements of subtlety and variation in the glazes that cover the skin of the pot.

Fein’s works focus on exploring a form’s potential to convey movement and intimacy; her actual fingerprints left on each piece. She uses the vessel as a metaphor for living bodies and explores connection and touch through the forms and surfaces of the sculptures. This new work adds elements of repeated texture and pattern which evoke further complexity in emotion and meaning from a vessel. Finding a home in New Orleans, Louisiana has led to an appreciation of the colorful architecture and whimsy of the city, which has seeped into this work, adding an element of playfulness and a step towards a new use of color in her pots. The appendages on these vessels are light-hearted opportunities for interaction. Sometimes it seems with just one more breath from the pot a new opening emerges.

Fein has been working in clay for fifteen years. She earned her BFA from Syracuse University (New York) and was awarded several ceramic residency programs including The Archie Bray Foundation (Helena, Montana), Craigardan (Elizabethtown, New York), Northern Clay Center, ProjectArt (Brooklyn, New York), and The Society of Arts and Crafts (Gloucester, Massachusetts). She currently enjoys working in a home studio in New Orleans.