Pinterest Mondays: Lorien Stern’s Ceramics
A menagerie of animals in every colour of the rainbow, ranging from huge faux taxidermy to mini shark heads..
Yes, this week Pinterest served up a fresh take on a growing trend in the form of Lorien Stern animal ceramics. Unlike the subtle, earthy tones favoured by many ceramic artist, Lorien opts for a deep, intense range of colours, offset by playful pattern and mark making.
I particularly love her playfully patterned Swimming Breakfast sculpture (above)- a large shark head adorned with all sorts of tasty underwater delicacies as well as the odd slice of watermelon. As you gaze into the whimsical underwater scene, you forget for a second it is all taking place on a sharks head until you catch the eye of said shark looking just as baffled and amused as you are.
Emulating and most likely inspiring her creative process, Lorien lives a rather unorthodox lifestyle, currently residing in a renovated trailer in the Mojave Desert. This harsh yet simple setting creates a blank canvas for Lorien’s imagination to frolic feely upon.
A studio surrounded by nothing but old fridges and cars is a suitably absurd setting for the creation of her eccentric ceramics.
Speaking of the decision to make the move in a mini-documentary by Faye Robles, Lorien explains she simply thought it would “be a good idea to move out, fix up a trailer and try out being a full-time artist”. This bold spirit coupled with her hyper imagination give Lorien’s creations the liveliness and personality which make them so unique.
On closer inspection of one of Lorien’s many spirited ceramic animals, the odd twitch or blink could easily go unnoticed as wishful forgetfulness allows you to think of them as real-life creatures – even just for a moment.