About the artist
Born in LA county and raised in the desert of Southern California, Coley comes from a family of artists and craftspeople. Her father, a child of immigrates from Portugal and Sicily. Her mother of Irish decent. Coley studied painting and drawing at The San Francisco Art Institute and San Francisco State. An interdisciplinary artist, her clay practice is informed by drawing and painting. Her sculpture and pots amalgamate reality and myth. Coley's ceramics contain imagined prehistoric flora and fauna painted and made of clay. Coley use of clay to better understand inner and outer worlds of the human into a world where centaurs roam portals of lush prehistoric still life.
About the work
Pre-internet and before vintage was curated the way it is now, I spent a lot of time in 2nd hand stores, I became obsessed with hunting for antiques, Victorian costumes and old art objects. Especially 1960s clothing. As a teenager, I became an Archaeologist of Kitsch, inventing past lives, guessing at how objects were made. Making up stories of the previous owners. The past became a source of inspiration, open for interpretation as my work began to tell stories. Around this time I became interested in Murakami, Daniel Clowes, Phoebe Phoebe Gloeckner, and Adrian Tomine. I drew comics, painted in oil and mixed media for many years before landing on clay.
When people view my work I want them to experience a longing sense of nostalgia for something that can’t be placed exactly but creates a sense of wonder.