Adrian Arleo

1960 Born Tarrytown, New York

EDUCATION

1983 BA Art and Anthropology, Honors in Art, Pitzer College, Claremont, California

1983-1984 Graduate Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts

1986 MFA Ceramics, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island

APPRENTICESHIPS AND RESIDENCIES

1986-1987 Oregon School of Arts and Crafts, Portland, Oregon

1987-1988 Sitka Center for Art & Ecology, Otis, Oregon

2012 Jorden Schnitzer Print Making Residency, Sitka Center for Art & Ecology, Otis, Oregon

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

—Studio artist

BIOGRAPHY

Adrian Arleo is a ceramic sculptor whose work focuses on human and animal forms. Her sculptures can represent a human figure, an animal form or both. Each piece begins with a sketch that is transformed into three dimensions using one inch diameter extruded coils. Arleo uses glazes to finish her surfaces, sometimes she employs the encaustic technique, and metallic leaf may also appear on her figures.

The coils are rolled to compress the clay and decrease their diameters. The looseness of the hand building process allows her to build the figural forms she employs. Often the poses she gives her human figures reference Greek and Roman sculptures. Her surfaces are typically highly textured. Inspiration comes from the natural world around her. Perhaps it’s honeycomb, the strata of a mountain side, the bark of a tree or fur or feathers.