Collection: Beth Thompson

Beth Thompson studied ceramic sculpture at Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she began to sculpt realistic, life-sized dogs out of clay. Animals are her visual medium, and through capturing them in moments of expression and connection she explores human emotions, intimacy and inner dialogues without the barriers of discourse surrounding human figurative work. Thompson emphasizes the power of tapping into vulnerability and quiet states of feeling through the interactions between figures in her work. Her sculpting process includes sketching from life, photo collection, and studying video to learn about the anatomy, musculature, kinesiology and gesture of her subjects. She then makes small scale models to find poses and form before moving on to sculpting the final work from a solid piece of clay on armatures. After sculpting, Thompson lets the clay begin hardening before cutting it into sections, hollowing it out, and reassembling.