Donna Polseno

EDUCATION 

1972 BFA Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri 

1974 MAT Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island 

APPRENTICESHIPS & RESIDENCIES 

1984 Artist in Residence, Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Helena, Montana 

2002 International Ceramics Symposium, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey 

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE 

2004 – Instructor, Hollins University, Roanoke, Virginia 

2007-2016 Instructor, Summer Term, La Meridiana School of Ceramics, Certaldo, Italy 

BIOGRAPHY 

Donna Polseno is known for mid-range electric fired figurative sculpture and pottery.  Figurative sculptures are hand built using an iron rich terracotta. Polsano's pottery is slip cast, altered and reassembled. Glazing practices include satin matte hues with stylized decorative motifs of flowers, leaves, birds or simple line work in designed combinations. Polsano uses a system of wax resists and liquid latex to build layers of glazes and decorative motifs.  

About her pottery, Polsano states, “I have made many different types of pottery over my career but have always been interested in the way decorative elements can be used to enhance a form, whether one is using an elaborate pattern or the simplest marks.” 1 

Polseno’s figurative sculptures are often constructed as singular stylized narrative female forms which have a sense of mass. Often the gesture of vessel in hand is used. Female figures often feature unglazed earth red clay as a prominent surface treatment, with glaze as an isolated decorative element. Also part of Polsano’s sculptural work is the careful assembly of her vessel related forms on a ceramic plinth. About her work Polseno states, “My interest is in portraying the essence of a woman; her capacity symbolically and in the flesh, to give life, to nurture, and exhibit both vulnerability, beauty and strength.” 2 

In addition to her personal creations, Polseno has been instrumental in developing the annual Women Working with Clay Symposium at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia, serving as the director for many years. A link to the symposium can be accessed here: https://www.hollins.edu/academics/workshops-online-writing-courses/women-working-with-clay-symposium/. 

1 http://www.donnapolseno.com/statement.htm-Cited February 5, 2019, 5:00PM. 

2 Ibid.