A Young Ceramicist Lets Her Art Tell Her Story

This summer, Iris was selected as one of eight young artists to join the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s youth mentoring program, which pairs participants with juried members for hands-on skill development and training into the business side of art. The young artists were also afforded the opportunity to showcase some of their top creations in an exhibition titled, “Next Generation: The Journey Begins,” at the league’s headquarters.

“It means a lot because I put so much heart and soul into my pieces,” Iris said of her selection to the league’s youth mentoring program. “It's not just pottery. It tells my story, who I am, and what my passions are. This kind of honor helps confirm that what I’m doing matters, and that others appreciate it too.”

Iris’s piece, “Just Along for the Ride” — a ceramic teapot with an intricately curated motorcycle affixed to the lid — was used in promoting the exhibition and featured in various marketing materials leading up to the show’s opening in October. The piece, which took three weeks to create, also earned “Best in Ceramics” honors at the AVA Gallery and Art Center’s annual awards.

Iris also incorporated her love of motorcycles into her second piece featured in the exhibition, a vase called, “The Journey to Iris.”  The piece, which took about five weeks to complete, includes a detailed motorcycle affixed on the side, as well as several vines and flowers that pay homage to her Filipino roots and, fittingly, a large iris flower on the top.

“I like integrating the things I love into my work,” Iris said. “Motorcycles have been a big part of my life, because my parents met through motorcycles. They’ve helped shape who I am, so putting that into my pottery was a real turning point.”

Iris said ceramics teacher and Taylor Gallery Director Ursula Fries-Herfort P’14, ’17 is one of her biggest creative influences at KUA. Fries-Herfort also happens to be a longtime juried member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen. As such, when it came time to be paired with a mentor for the League’s youth mentoring program, Iris knew exactly where to turn.

“She was really excited because I’m her first mentee,” Iris explained. “I love Ms. Herfort. She’s helped me expand my knowledge of pottery, find my strong suits, and show me where I need to work. These are things I’m really trying to develop in my artistic skill. Being self-taught [before KUA] meant I had no technique or knowledge handed down from other people, and so I really appreciate the constructive criticism I get now. She’s been incredibly helpful in developing my pottery.”

Fries-Herfort said she first began working with Iris during pottery activity two years ago and has enjoyed encouraging her creative development. And now, through the league’s mentorship program, that encouragement and support will extend even further.

“Being able to now support a student like Iris in my role as her mentor feels like a full circle moment,” said Fries-Herfort, who became a juried member of the League in 2007, the same year she began teaching at KUA. “My love for clay began in a League sponsored studio and I’m now passing it on to the ‘Next Generation.’ I couldn’t be happier and prouder to fill this role, and I can’t wait to see where Iris’s creative journey will take her.”

Iris, a member of KUA’s equestrian team, also spent a portion of her summer refining her artistic skills beyond the realm of ceramics as part of her Cullman Scholarship experience. Combining her love of motorcycles, art, and sustainability, she studied metalsmithing and expanded her artistic skills at the Maine College of Art and Design in Portland. She also traveled to Providence, Rhode Island — via motorcycle with her father — to try her hand at welding, and learned firsthand about the creative reuse movement through visits to reuse facilities in four states.

“I've always been into a broad range of materials and into creating things in reusable ways,” Iris said of the inspiration behind her Cullman experience. “I don’t want to fold myself into one art form."

Iris said she’s not quite sure where she’d like to attend college in the fall but hopes to major in industrial design and potentially minor in an equestrian-related field. Though art may not be the premiere focus of that college experience, she said hopes to continue creating and showcasing her work well into the future.

And if the opportunity arises to remain in New Hampshire and become a juried member of the League, Iris said she’d love to pay it forward and one day mentor the next generation of artists.

“I’d want to be impactful the way Ms. Herfort is, by being a genuinely kind and curious person who helps others learn about their work,” she said.