Consuming Ceramics
Lena Franes
Consuming Ceramics
Consuming Ceramics, 2026, Ceramics Stoneware, 4ft by 4ft
Artist Statement
In my story, there are mysterious hybrid animals moving around the world, stealing ceramics from galleries, museums, and people’s homes. The motive is unknown, but some speculate that the animals are eating them… My installation shows the animals now gathered at Emily Carr University, with one sleeping around its looted ceramics and the other in mid-bite of a ceramic vase. The animal who is sleeping is a combination of a dragon, lion, deer, triceratops and lizard. The animal who is eating is a combination of a crocodile, raccoon and tamarin. As I was making them, the forms evolved into new animals while still retaining a likeness to the original creatures.
The animals move through different countries, stealing various ceramic objects. This connects to a larger theme I am interested in: the repatriation of art and stolen artifacts. The consumption of culture through colonization of countries can be seen in museums filled with foreign artworks which were removed from their community of origin in brutal and violent ways. Our society’s current consumption of these objects is shaped by the museum’s perspective, ultimately presenting a narrative with missing facts, distortions, and a loss of traditional ecological knowledge. In place of marauding humans, these mythical beings playfully show a reversal of consuming, while literally devouring the museums’ plunder.
Maquettes and Glaze Tests
Moving Landscapes
Moving Landscapes
Moving Landscapes, 2025, Ceramics Stoneware
Artist Statement
This project explores how place, wildlife, natural disasters, industry, and the environment shape the way people live. I am especially interested in how living in small versus large communities influences access to resources, relationships, identity, and overall experience. I created a series of four vessels, each representing a different aspect of the small town I am from.
Water Fountains
Water Fountains
Beet City, 2025, Ceramics Stoneware, 19in by 7in (Left) Cabbage Fountain, 2025, Ceramics Stoneware, 10in by 10in
Glass Work
Qualities of Glass, 2025, Glass, 10in by 6in
My idea for this project was to create something that could hang on the wall and look as though it was melting off. I was also thinking about where I would put it and how the light would shine through it. I’ve always loved the qualities of glass and how it exists as both a liquid and a solid. I wanted to use gravity as part of the making process, letting the form naturally fall and shape itself from the pile.
