🎧 Zoë Powell: A Natural Fit Lilianne Milgrom

Appears in the December 2023 issue of Ceramics Monthly.

The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.

Our formative years often hold the key to what the future has in store for us. In Zoë Powell’s case, her childhood experiences set the stage for a life and career inextricably intertwined with the natural world. Constructing make-believe villages out of nature’s organic building blocks was a favorite pastime that cemented her fascination with natural objects and forms. “Handling them is such a rich experience: the smell of a pinecone, the texture of a shell, the delicate papery crunch of a leaf.” 

Merging Two Passions 

This reverence comes through unequivocally in Powell’s ceramic work. But her sensitive, mindful observation of natural forms is founded on more than an affinity for the outdoors. Powell holds dual degrees—a BA in fine arts and a BS in biology. She was torn between the two areas of study until her final semester of college when she decided upon ceramics because clay had been a constant during the entirety of her exploration into alternative fields. Rather than shelving her interest in biology, however, Powell has succeeded in merging her two passions. 

Her work hints at vestiges of wombs, cocoons, seed pods, shells, and bone, yet it retains a unique, organic signature created by the artist’s hand. “I never want to copy nature,” she explains. “I’m interested in abstracting it and making something impossible from its model.” Powell often begins a new work by sketching an idea as seen from above, knowing in advance that her initial concept will undergo a metamorphosis throughout the building process. Individual lobes of hand-curved or draped components are allowed to stiffen and are then distorted and assembled intuitively. Light and shadow play a major role in the placement of elements. The complexity of natural forms inspires her work and she strives to create harmony between tension, fragility, and imbalance, often compressing and attenuating the clay to reflect the separation and attachments inherent in most relationships—be they between people or with the environment. 

“Nature is resilient,” says the artist when asked if her work is a cry for environmental justice. Although sustainability and honoring one’s materials are at the root of Powell’s practice, her vessels—delicately finished and lovingly polished—reflect a positive worldview. The natural cycle of life offers hope and anticipation. Humans, she acknowledges, are an undermining cause of climate change but she believes that we have the power to reverse it if we start changing our ways. It is through her teaching and outreach that she hopes to make a positive impact spreading awareness of how to “properly and respectfully work with the Earth.” 

Processing and Producing Materials 

Powell pays tribute to the traditions found in historical ceramics, notably mining her own clay. She collects native clay and mineral resources from the surrounding region in Minnesota, processing the raw materials into clay bodies that she uses in her handbuilt forms. Although Powell does fire in an electric kiln, wood firing is her preference—she credits her first ceramics residency in a wood-firing program as the perfect first step to building and shaping her career. Powell prefers not to use glazes. She feels a responsibility to retain the clay’s native characteristics, while at the same time doing her part to minimize the negative impact of harvesting elements that make up many of the brilliant colors in commercial glazes. Her finished works exude an inherent beauty and natural warmth that would be masked if encased in the glassy sheen of a fired glaze. 

Powell’s studio is aptly named Studio Alluvium, alluvium being defined as “a deposit of clay, silt, sand, and gravel left by flowing streams in a river valley or delta, typically producing fertile soil.” She shares the studio with her partner and fellow ceramic artist, Mitch Iburg. Their similar interests ensured that their paths would one day cross and that, together, they would expand each other’s potential. Both past residents of the Cub Creek Foundation in rural Virginia, they had access to wild red clay right at their doorstep and independently gravitated away from commercial clay to this exciting alternative. Nowadays, their shared space is dedicated to research and the use of local materials for ceramic application. 

Gathering new material is very much a collaborative effort. Powell and Iburg travel to the site together where they collect and document their discoveries. Once back in the studio, they have developed different recipes to create a body most suitable to their individual aesthetic and work processes. Iburg’s forms are influenced by the geological features found in the landscape, while Powell is inspired by organic botanical and animal structures. 

A Collaborative Effort 

Powell’s individual pieces are extensions of herself and imbued with deep, reflective emotion. “I’ve always been very reserved, and I’ve struggled with anxiety, so working quietly in a studio setting feels appropriate for me. I imagine my forms as serene environments that offer an escape to a different mental state.” Protection and comfort are words that frequently come up to describe her work. She likens her larger womb-like sculptures to discarded shells, transitional spaces that provide a sense of shelter. Powell’s fascination with psychological pathology inserts itself into her work. Learning about psychology has helped her better understand herself and others, and how different reactions to a situation can color the relationship between individuals. 

Fortunate to have had many inspiring teachers and mentors, both Powell and Iburg are passionate about passing on a legacy and helping others who are still looking to find their creative voice. The couple has designed a series of workshops to share their significant experience in the field of locally sourced materials and to connect participants with global researchers in the field. Their original intention was to reach a wider audience who may not have access to traditional academic institutions and in so doing they have found a community of like-minded individuals. “It is such a joy to see our students light up and speak passionately about their work,” says Powell. She and Iburg reject the notion that their commitment to using locally sourced clay is in any way trendy—in their view, it is a practice that goes back centuries and is a far more sustainable model than importing materials from around the globe. In their workshops, Powell and Iburg encourage their students to seek out what makes the geology of their area unique and to embrace natural imperfections found in local clay. 

Finding a balance between teaching and studio practice is something that Powell is continually refining. She admits that she is in her element when creating conceptual work that speaks to her private reflections, free of the constraints of function. But, she has learned to accommodate and appreciate commission work in her practice. “I work best when I balance days making work for others with days when I’m making work for myself. This is still just the beginning of my path, and I hope to continue on it for a long time.” 

the author Lilianne Milgrom is a multi-media artist, writer on the arts, and award-winning author of L’Origine. To learn more, visit www.liliannemilgrom.com.