“Objects that synthesize dynamic design, anthropomorphic animals, and vibrant colors are my means for surveying the intersections of utility and sculpture. By bringing into question the similarities between instinctual animal behaviors and habits learned through my lived experience as a woman, artist, and mother, I hope to gain insight and inspiration for living with fewer insecurities and societal pressures. My desire is for the work to be a synchronistic exchange of connection, where care and beauty are vibrant in daily life, and where complex human emotions might be made more discernible through light-hearted depictions of personified animal subjects.” Heidi McKay Casto (she/her) is a ceramic artist and faculty member at The University of Iowa School of Art and Art History. She earned her MA and MFA from The University of Iowa and her BFA from The Ohio State University. Her work has been featured in over sixty group and Four solo exhibitions. Casto has been a featured artist with Art Axis, and was selected for two purchase prizes in the 2022 Strictly Functional Pottery National. She was named a 2022 Ceramics Monthly Magazine Emerging Artist, and was selected as an Emerging Artist at the 2023 National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Conference. Heidi was a 2024 Visiting Artist in Residence at The Archie Bray Foundation Visiting Artist in Helena, Montana.