North CarolinaUniversity of Florida, B.DesignPolk Community College, A.A. Deneece Harrell is a contemporary ceramic sculpture artist whose work explores themes of identity, beauty, and purpose. Her work is influenced by Kintsugi, a Japanese art form used to repair broken pottery with gold. Using porcelain, gold leaf, brass, and glaze, Harrell’s organic forms are analogies for life. These vessels are created by connecting fragments of torn, marred, and stretched clay. This process reflects how the struggles of human experience shape our identity. The subtle hammered texture of the brass wire symbolizes the work involved in healing, while the staples that simultaneously pierce and mend the clay illustrate the vulnerability of exposing the broken parts of ourselves. To Harrell, the unpredictability of the firing process that each piece of hers must undergo in the kiln speaks to how life is beyond our control. I am fascinated and inspired by the subtle texture, strength, delicacy, and translucence of the white porcelain clay. My work is a symbolic analogy of experiences both personal and observed. Each unique piece is a dialogue between the clay and the artist, and each piece the story of being seen. Learning we are seen, known, and loved, leads us to love ourselves and others through the discovery of a shared language of brokenness, restoration, compassion, and hope. We become vessels of beauty, hope and light as we are shaped and filled with the supernatural beauty of God who loves us and does not leave us where we are.