CERAMIC SPOTLIGHT: MELANIE FERGUSON

ONLINE VIEWING ROOM | SEPTEMBER 18 - OCTOBER 25, 2025

Cavin-Morris Gallery is pleased to announce a special spotlight of ceramic sculptures by Melanie Ferguson. 

Melanie Ferguson is a visionary storyteller.  Her work first attracted us because of its participation in the world on so many different planes of perception.  She has found a way of defying, or perhaps working with, time and timelessness.  Her sculptures never look the same twice nor do they stop offering up their poesy. They are esoteric yet grounded in the physicality of their clay bodies. They are like elders, offering wisdom and council to the places they are shown.  This spotlight focuses on some of the artist’s most recent works.

Born in the seaport town of Newport, Oregon, Melanie Ferguson's interest in art was richly influenced by her ocean surroundings and nourished by assisting, studying, and working with coastal artists and native elders. She experimented with many artistic forms of expression, subsequently focusing on the properties of hand-blown sheet glass and the theory of "painting with light", evolving a narrative style applied to architectural and commercial glass commissions. This venture in glass prompted a move to Washington State's Puget where she studied Visual Communication at Northwest College of Art.

A longtime desire to live in the Southern United States initiated a move to the state of Georgia where she began full-time study of Contemporary Ceramics at Roswell Art Center West in 2007, exploring the sculptural quality of the hand-built form and the narrative grace of surface with a special focus on wood, soda, and atmospheric firing. Today, her works are exhibited nationally and internationally as she continues her artistic exploration of sculptural form and surface from her Loch Highland studio near Roswell, Georgia.

“Eroding hillsides, the swirling ripple on water's surface, the rhythmic patterns of ocean flora and fauna each provide me with endless relationship intrigue; their associated shadow and reflection, sound, smell, and effortless energy feeds my inner spirit. These key sensory "notes" inspire creative concept by revealing a story that challenges my expression through any given medium utilizing elements that demand physical involvement in building form and surface. Using stoneware, earthenware, or porcelain, I hand-build my sculptural forms to preserve this symbolic gesture of energy. Applying clay coils, I frequently paddle the form's surface to engage with its inner resonance, reminiscent of tidal rhythm and flow as the form evolves with direction and movement. I then add oxide stains (usually copper and iron), slips, color-tinted underglaze, and etching techniques to establish a surface visual that maps a spirited dance within. I engage many firing methods appropriate for each work, with a preference for atmospheric firing. How the surface elements attract and cast flame plays an integral role in the evolution of the story that ultimately engages the beginning of my next work.”

- From Artist’s Statement

For further information please contact info@cavinmorris.com or call us at 212-226-3768.

Melanie Ferguson
Fading Into The Source, 2024
Hand built stoneware, crackle slip, oxide stains, underglaze, glaze; multiple firings in oxidation
11 x 10 x 10 inches
27.9 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm
MFe 80

$4,000

Melanie Ferguson
Billet-doux, 2025
Hand built stoneware, oxide stains and glaze; multiply fired in oxidation
11 x 10.5 x 9 inches
27.9 x 26.7 x 22.9 cm
MFe 75

$4,000

Melanie Ferguson
Water Song, 2025
Hand built stoneware, sgraffito through layered underglaze, glaze; multiply fired in oxidation
11 x 10.5 x 9 inches
27.9 x 26.7 x 22.9 cm
MFe 76

$4,500

Melanie Ferguson
Bamboo Winds, 2025
Hand built stoneware, crackle slip, oxide stains and glaze, multiply fired in oxidation
16 x 10 x 10 inches
40.6 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm
MFe 77

$4,000

Melanie Ferguson
Within Fog's View, 2024
Hand built stoneware, crackle slip, oxide stains, underglaze and glaze; multiple firings in oxidation
12 x 13 x 13 inches
30.5 x 33 x 33 cm
MFe 78

$4,000

Melanie Ferguson
Ten Paces, 2024
Hand built stoneware, sgraffito through layered underglaze; multiple firings in oxidation
16 x 12 x 10 inches
40.6 x 30.5 x 25.4 cm
MFe 79

$4,500

Melanie Ferguson
Warrior Aura in Bloom, 2020-2025
Handbuilt stoneware, sgraffito through layered underglaze pigment
14 x 9.5 x 10.5 inches
35.6 x 24.1 x 26.7 cm
MFe 74

$4,000

Melanie Ferguson
Chronicles of the Sharp-Shinned Hawk, 2020
Handbuilt stoneware, sgraffito through layered underglaze, manganese liner glaze mottled to support spirit of the story 
14 x 10 x 10 inches
35.6 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm
MFe 63

$3,500

Melanie Ferguson
Souls Grown Deep Like the River, 2025
Hand built stoneware, sgraffito through layered underglaze, glaze, multiply fired in oxidation
16 x 12 x 10 inches
40.6 x 30.5 x 25.4 cm
MFe 81

$5,000

Melanie Ferguson
A Circus Mind, 2023-2024
Hand built stoneware, sgraffito through layered underglaze; multiply fired in oxidation
16 x 9 x 9 inches
40.6 x 22.9 x 22.9 cm
MFe 82

$4,500