Kelly Berning: Common Threads

My ceramic work explores memory, transformation, time, and the emotional landscapes that shape human experience, often through themes of ritual, hope, and imagination. Through figurative sculpture and functional forms, I create objects that invite reflection, tell stories, and carry symbolic intention. Influenced by surrealism and psychological storytelling, my work often occupies a dreamlike space between memory and imagination, where personal experience becomes universal.

Across several interconnected bodies of work, I investigate the ways identity is formed through relationships, ritual, nature, and change. Many figurative sculptures draw from my experiences as both a woman and a mother, exploring the joys, vulnerabilities, and quiet complexities of raising children in a world that often feels divided and uncertain. These figures invite viewers to reconnect with the wonder and curiosity of childhood while reflecting on growth, protection, resilience, and the ways our identities continue to evolve throughout our lives.

Kelly Berning