ELLEN SCH?N is Adjunct Faculty in Fine Arts and Clay Studio Supervisor at the Art Institiute of Boston at Lesley University, where she has taught ceramics and 3-D courses since 2002. Schön received a BA from Marlboro College (Ceramics and Perceptual Psychology) and an MFA in Ceramics from Boston University’s Program in Artisanry. She has exhibited in numerous shows in the United States and is a past recipient of The Artist Foundation Fellowship from the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities.

Schön has organized and co-curated interdisciplinary, thematic group exhibitions in non-profit venues in the Boston area and abroad. Schön’s interest in international artist collaboration and exchange has led her to travel extensively in Europe, participating in international artist symposia/residencies in Finland, Croatia, Hungary, Turkey, Israel, Germany, and Malaysia. The Museum of fine Arts, Boston has recently acquired one of her major pieces, Nargila Pod, for their permanent collection.

Schön says, “I have always been interested in the ability of a ceramic vessel to point to something beyond itself—to function as metaphor. Ceramic vessels, physically structured with necks, shoulders, bellies, and feet, can evoke the gesture and anthropomorphized stance of the human body; they also reveal deep aspects of human experience and of the natural world.”

“Through spontaneous handling of inanimate clay, I attempt to find and breathe life into form. My creative process is grounded in reflective practice--imposing ideas on and listening to the material in cycles of learning. The material directs me as I direct it. We are in a reciprocal relationship.”