Shalene Valenzuela | “No Place Like Home”

Published: July 13, 2011

As part of the Archie Bray Foundation's 60th anniversary celebration, Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art in Great Falls hosts “No Place Like Home” by Missoula artist Shalene Valenzuela. The exhibit, on display through Sept. 10, provides viewers with a wonderfully wry and sometimes ironic look at domestic life.

Valenzuela’s use of clay represents the shift in the ceramic discipline that emerged in the late 1950s when artists began utilizing clay as a sculptural medium.

She describes her creations as “quirky pieces that reflect upon a variety of issues with a thoughtful, yet humorous and ironic tone. I am inspired by the potential of everyday common objects.”

“My narratives explore topics ranging from fairy tales, urban mythologies, consumer culture, societal expectations, etiquette and coming-of-age issues,” she says. She often pulls imagery from somewhat “dated” sources, including instructional guides, cookbooks, advertisements and old family photos.

“Beneath the shiny veneer of these relics hides a complex and sometimes contradicting truth of what things seem to appear upon first glance,” she says.

Valenzuela grew up in Santa Barbara, CA, and earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and the California College of Arts and Crafts. She began a two-year residency at the Clay Studio in Missoula in 2007, “where I learned the art of riding a bike in the snow.”

After teaching for a year at the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts, she returned to Missoula, where she works as an artist, is an adjunct instructor at The University of Montana, and serves on the Clay Studio’s board of directors.

For more information, visit the artist's website, www.shalene.com.