Vanessa Villarreal

Vanessa Villarreal is a ceramic artist based in Gatineau, Quebec. She holds a Bachelor's of Fine Arts degree from the Oregon College of Art & Craft in Portland, OR. (2005) She has been creating work and teaching community classes in studios in California, Oregon, Arizona, Ottawa and Montreal. She is an American living in Quebec where she settled with her family in 2016.

Her work has been sold and collected in art galleries and private collections since 2005. In 2019 she collaborated with the Anthropologie retailer to create 9 original ceramic works to be sold in their stores worldwide. You can find her current work and interview in the 2020 publication of Ceramics by Uppercase magazine publishing.

Vanessa’s charming hand-built porcelain tableware and small sculptures show her love for paper collage and decorative designs in folk art. Her admiration of paper arts and embroidery influence how she creates forms in clay. By cutting and folding the clay like paper and decorating the surface with hand cut applique designs, her work feels delicate and playful. Vanessa’s surface designs are dreamlike and mystical, enhanced by soft underglaze colours and gold lustre accents. Imagery such as hands reaching to stars and moons and swans and swallows float in clouds present a world full of magic and whimsy. Her ceramic work uses universal animal and plant symbology to explore ideas of spirituality and feminism.