Called “one of America’s foremost ceramic artists,” Seattle sculptor Patti Warashina has been delighting audiences for decades with her figurative art, often featuring women in highly evocative, often humorous positions and scenes.

And chances are you’ve seen Warashina’s art around Seattle, at the Seattle Art Museum, Microsoft’s public art collection, and the University of Washington among many, many other public spaces. Her work combines impeccable craftsmanship with conceptual sophistication, and she’s been recognized with numerous awards, including being named a Smithsonian Visionary Artist in 2020.

The funk and surrealism in her work come from Warashina’s personal experiences and views. Throughout her storied, fifty-plus-year career, she often turns to the human and figurative form as her subject to explore the eccentrics of the human experience, reflecting not only her own life but also the events and culture around her. This could be why her work can be found in so many public spaces — her artwork serves as a commentary and reflection point for all of us.

Together with Gary Faigin, the co-founder and artistic director of Gage Academy of Art in Seattle, Warashina will share representative images from her long and prolific career. They will discuss several artworks including her piece “A Procession,” now on display at the Washington State Convention Center.

Patti Warashina is an American artist known for her imaginative ceramic sculptures. Often constructing her sculptures using porcelain, her works are in the collection of the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Painter, critic, and author Gary Faigin is cofounder and Artistic Director of Gage Academy of Art in Seattle, as well as the school’s Still Life Atelier instructor. He has taught in art schools across the country including the National Academy of Design and the Parsons School of Design.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Gage Academy of Art.