We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Claudia Poser. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Claudia below.
Claudia , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
For the past ten years, my work has been motivated by the question ” What do I hold sacred in this world?” In these times of rising eco-anxiety, a common human response is to feel overwhelmed and powerless which leads us to shut down. But if we are to find the strength and energy to overcome our current predicament we will need to find a way out of this numb state. The first step back to feeling is to pay attention. Our love of the natural world leads us to feel fear and pain when we see environmental destruction; shining the light of attention on nature – letting ourselves notice and experience gratitude – is the beginning of reclaiming our personal power.
I became active in the ongoing work to protect the Boundary Waters from the threat of mining. Like Parker Palmer, I consider the BWCA “the closest thing to heaven on earth” and the prospect of its destruction is horrifying. I began to imagine what was at risk, which led me to a series of works in silhouette. Although I normally work in Terra Cotta, I felt that white clay was more appropriate to the sense of potential loss inherent in the subject. Cutting out the shapes of trees native to the threatened area, as well as animals who are citizens of the area, and mounting them to emphasize their shadowy absence felt like a way to underscore what we have to lose.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My academic training consists of a Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering, but I found work in corporate research unsatisfying. I first turned to writing, and published a memoir about my experience growing up shuttling back and forth between East and West Germany as a child. It is titled “Dreaming in German.” Writing is a lonely, abstract activity and in order to balance it, I began to take Ceramics classes at Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis. The passion and satisfaction that working with clay provoked pulled me in further and further until I became a resident artist at the Center. A few years later, I tool advantage of a mentorship through a women’s art organization and found my voice, Since then I have moved to a studio in the Northeast Minneapolis arts district. My work concentrates on wall installations and much of that work is commissioned, I have installations in numerous public spaces as well as private homes.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
When I first began to work in Ceramics, the obvious business model appeared to be to make functional work and sell through craft fairs. I dabbled in that model for a little while, and quickly realized that it was not for me. I am too much of an introvert to enjoy that much contact with the public, and it became clear to me that building a repeat audience would require a lot of receptive making. I took stock and realized that wasn’t why I was drawn to creative work. Around that time, I was contacted by an art consultant who had come across my work on an early website highlighting local artists that was supported by the Walker Art Museum. She offered me a significant commission, and I was off. I was able to draw on the artist I had met during my mentorship to educate me about working with art consultants, This stroke of luck alerted me to a opportunities I hadn’t considered because I thought of them as “fine art” and had been limiting myself to a craft paradigm.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I find this work so rewarding, it is hard to pick just one aspect. Working in the studio, with my hands on clay, is a meditative, grounding practice that anchors me and gives me the strength carry on. I cannot imagine my life without that kind of restorative time anymore. The other main aspect I love is knowing that I am providing visually calming environments for others. In that sense, I do enjoy the contact I have with customers during open studio events. That moment when someone’s eyes light up in front of my work is delightful.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://claudiaposer.com
- Instagram: @cposer
- Facebook: studio394;northrupkingbuilding
Image Credits
All photography by Peter Lee