Sandra Nissen

Sandra Nissen of Muddy Fingers Clay Studio in Woodstock, GA will be showing an exciting new body of work at the MudFire Gallery. The show runs May 2-29, 2003, with an opening artists reception to be held May 2 beginning at 7pm.

About Sandra Nissen

For some time Sandra has been keeping a dream journal and increasingly basing her clay work on these subconscious wanderings. The “Dreamscapes: Totems and Altars” exhibition is the result of eighteen months of intensively exploring this creative direction, culminating in an exciting new body of work. These pieces touch on themes and issues which all dreamers deal with, asleep or awake.

“With these totems and altars, the inspiration for my work has grown more personal. Recording my dreams and reflecting on the journal provides a rich swirl of images, emotions, and visions. I have tried to capture these in clay to serve as a catalyst for the viewer to begin exploring their own inner currents.”

Sandra’s work has always been influenced by the things of importance in her world: family, friends, dog, nature and cars. Cars? Sandra and her husband are avid members of the Atlanta BMW CCA, and head to the track to race more often than they care to admit.

Sandra works out of Muddy Fingers Clay Studio in Woodstock, GA. She teaches ceramics at her studio and at local community arts centers. She graduated from The Philadelphia College of Art in Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design and a minor in Ceramics. After graduation she began to manage galleries including The Museum Shops of Monticello in Charlottesville, VA and Bennett Galleries in Knoxville, TN, while continuing to work and teach in clay. She was the child of an Air Force colonel and grew up in many states and two countries.

“My work often defies easy categorization since I frequently combine hand building, sculpture, functional wheel and mosaic techniques. Some of the Dreamscapes pieces combine all four approaches within one piece to deliver an extremely rich visual experience.”