Anne Traver: Unearthed

Traver Gallery is excited to present Unearthed, a solo exhibition of new works in clay by Anne Traver. Anne began work with clay five years ago after a career as a graphic designer, brand strategist, design firm owner, and design professor. After training in workshops, community studios, and several intensive courses in Italy, she now maintains an independent studio and practice in Seattle. She says of her work: “I make objects that occupy the space between functional pottery and sculpture. I am fascinated by the way that clay in its rigid fired state can reveal its former soft and malleable qualities. Deflation, folds, surface– the effects of gravity, time, and atmosphere tell the object’s history… A modernist simplicity and elegance of form emerging from nature is my aim.” While consistently elegant and restrained in form and gesture, Anne’s work is neither delicate nor precious. Her limited use of color accentuates the weight, and volume of her forms while her textured surfaces reference baskets, concrete, earth, and history. Celebrating the tension that arises between the inherent sensuality of the material and the intervention of the artist, Anne’s work points quietly to history and the evolution of bodies and communities through time.