Description
ARTIST STATEMENT
I love skin — how it moves, how it folds, how it pulls over muscles and fat, and how we interact with it. Most often, traditional ceramics take the form of a vessel: a container, an encapsulation. In other words, ceramics offer a space for holding things. Each of these works reflects specific experiences or feelings that I am trying to hold — to wrap a skin around. I’m throwing a blanket over an invisible woman to see what she really looks like.
The Hugger welcomes love and touch and gives the same in turn. This work is focused on the point where skin meets ceramic. For this piece, greasy fingers are welcome, kissing the art is encouraged, and being a little weird is required.
I make art to understand myself, and with only a little mortification, I’ll share with anyone else willing to be a bit playful.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Lili Jones is a sculptural and functional ceramic artist based in Asheville, North Carolina. A 2026 graduate of Warren Wilson College, most of Jones’s work is made of locally sourced Appalachian clays, dug straight from the riverbed of the Swannanoa River. Jones’s work is frequently fixated on the human body and experience: through figurative works that are designed to include audience interaction, and through ergonomic design with accessibility, tactile sensation, and functionality in mind.
© Lili Jones