Biography

Jillian Heusohn is a ceramic artist based in Tallahassee, FL. She holds a BFA from the University of West Florida and an MFA (pending) from Florida State University. Jillian has been awarded the Summer Session Creative Residency at the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences and the Windgate University Fellowship from Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Her work has been recognized through awards such as the Andy McLachlin Memorial Award from Florida State University, and the Merit Award from the 58th Bay Annual by Panama City Center for the Arts. Jillian has exhibited regionally and nationally in shows such as Little Things (Atlanta, GA), Art of the Cup (New Orleans), Sip 2024: A Ceramic Cup Show (Savannah, GA), Small Favors (Philadelphia, PA), Tea (Richmond, VA), and Fired Up (Panama City, FL). She is a Ceramics Instructor at Florida State University, specializing in wheel throwing.

Artist Statement

I make ceramic vessels to represent our meat vessels. Using clay, fiber, and remains, I explore themes of relationships, reconnections, and fully embodied moments. The core of my practices considers what it means to be holding; by combining the hardened permanence of ceramics with the soft, fragile nature of the fibers and remains, I create a holding for the dichotomies that live within us. I juxtapose the unwavering force of ceramics with the vulnerability of the fibers to show our separated parts and to consider how we embrace the differences between our internal and external selves. Using the splitting aesthetics of warm, weathered stoneware and soft, clean porcelaneous clay bodies, I explore what people are connected to, what they store within, and what they return to. I strive to balance the innate desire between protection and connection while threading a line through our shared bonds.