Who

Liz Quan is a ceramicist and designer based in Boulder, Colorado, known for her organic porcelain slip forms and vessels with a deeply refined but playful, engaging sensibility. After an accomplished career as an Art Director in the publishing industry in New York, Liz explored ceramics as a way to return to working with her hands. In 2005, she began post-baccalaureate study in ceramics at the University of Colorado, and has since exhibited at Walker Fine Art, the Arvada Center, McNichols Civic Center Building, and many other art institutions. Liz works in porcelain for its pure aesthetic, exploring its fragile qualities and innate characteristics; by appreciating its boundaries, she explores deeply within them.

Why

I’ve been working with clay for over 15 years, and it still harkens back to being in kindergarten. Frederick Froebel’s premise as the creator of the concept of kindergarten is that free activity and the impulse to explore is motivated by intellectual curiosity. Having the opportunity to freely discover and explore this curiosity is truly a gift. I hope to extend this activity of play and curiosity to the viewer, with the invitation to engage the senses while interacting with the work.

I enjoy working with porcelain for its pure aesthetic. Its smooth texture is satisfying and impressionable to the touch. Working in clay, and particularly porcelain slip, demands understanding its fragile qualities and unique potential. It has a memory and innate characteristics. Once we appreciate the boundaries, we can explore more deeply within them.