Artist Shalene Valenzuela details ceramic sewing-machine series and trompe l'oeil process in Missoula

Shalene Valenzuela, artist in residence at the Clay Studio of Missoula, presented her ceramic piece "Sew Very Happy" and described the techniques and themes behind a series of clay objects she makes.

Valenzuela said the work is "the fifth in a series of sewing machines" she has made and that she is exploring trompe l'oeil'—art that "fools the eye"'by making clay objects look like everyday domestic items. "Everything is clay on here except for this little doodad that sticks up top and, the needle right there, but everything else is ceramic," she said.

The artist walked the audience through the clay slip-casting process she used. She said she pours liquefied clay, or slip, into a plaster mold, lets the shell form to a desired thickness and then pours out the excess. "Generally, depending on the size of an object, between like an eighth or a quarter of an inch," she said, referring to the shell thickness the slip forms in the mold. As plaster absorbs moisture, Valenzuela explained, the piece pulls away from the mold walls and can be removed as a self-supporting ceramic form.

Valenzuela said she composes her pieces to encourage viewers to move around them, using illustrations placed under and around forms so viewers "follow that front and back." She described recurring themes in her work: objects tied to domesticity and mid-20th-century advertising imagery that draw viewers in with bright colors but can "reveal a darker side of things as well."

Speaking about one recurring motif, Valenzuela discussed the phrase "Stay lovely," calling it less an affirmation than a command tied to social expectations. "Stay lovely is not so much a positive affirmation as it is more of a command," she said, noting how such messaging plays into questions of identity she and other women experienced growing up.

Valenzuela also placed her practice in local context: she said she moved to Missoula "3 and a half years ago" and began as an artist in residence at the Clay Studio of Missoula. The presentation focused on her recent work and process rather than any formal action or program change by the studio or another body.

The talk concluded with Valenzuela explaining the conceptual aims of the series: to use familiar, comforting objects as entry points, then unsettle expectations through material and imagery.