Vicki Gunter

Artist Statement

As a native of California, the clay state, I love turning clay to stone. I feel an urgency to create art in this revolutionary time and value clay’s infinite potential − mirroring our own.

My intention is to share work that stirs the visceral will to face our many challenges, with hope and joy, in the beauty that is in us and all other life. Beauty, that is under our feet and setting sail at our back.

Inspired by its no-waste complexity, nature is my source and my anchor, in wild places and at home in East Oakland. It can guide us, as artists and citizens, by its responses to our actions.

I am currently creating work within four series: CANARY & ELEPHANT SERIES: what is the next canary-int-the-coal=mine for our planet and what are the elephants-in-the-room that we need to remove. ...IN EVERYTHING SERIES: DNA is in everything; evidence of the shared ancestry of ALL living things. Each piece in the series transforms into a DNA helix in unique ways. My NEW ERA SERIES was initially inspired by the murder of George Floyd, whose family wore white to his funeral to say, 'this is not and ending but a new era!'
BLOOM is a 5 year project I am actively working in the 2nd year of the project.

I enjoy luring the viewer in with the beauty of our planet, to confront challenging issues and enchant us into guardianship.

Clay has a memory. It records your fingerprints and all the ways you held it in your hands. Our earth has a memory and responds to our manipulations. My work in clay draws from the knowledge that everything…us, our food, home, clothes, tools, toys all come from the ‘clay’ of the earth. My hope is, that we will seek solutions in nature-based knowledge to grow, gather, love & consume with justice for all. Leaving the smallest fingerprint.

At my most recent show I collaborated with Greenpeace to create QR codes for each sculpture that linked the viewer to informative articles related to the art and community actions. I also give a percentage of my portion of sales to Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and SF Baykeeper.