Isys Hennigar

Isys Hennigar is a North Carolina based artist working in ceramics and metal. She received her MFA from the University of Georgia and BFA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Exhibitions of her work include the American Museum of Ceramic Art (Pomona, CA), Sow & Tailor Gallery (Los Angeles, CA), Signature Contemporary Craft (Atlanta, GA), Ferrara Showman Gallery (New Orleans, LA), and the North Carolina Museum of Art (Raleigh, NC). 

Artist Statement

Through ceramics and metal, my work invokes real and reimagined ecological encounters that underscore transformation and hybridity, and play as tools of renewal. Drawing inspiration from agricultural practices, mythology, and medicinal traditions, my work considers systems of sustenance and healing, as well as the cultural and ecological legacies of land cultivation, and the dualities of the body.

Agricultural implements, herbal symbolism, and hybrid animals in states of metamorphosis are among the imagery I incorporate in ceramic forms referencing vessels. These vessels serve as literal and poetic mediators through the interactions that they may imply or facilitate. These forms are often adorned or connected by metal components. In concert, these materials invoke a historical lineage of rituals and narratives surrounding the body and associations of both utility and adornment. Through these objects, I explore instances of affinity and possibilities of connection among wild and domestic ecologies, systems of care, and cycles of decay and rejuvenation.