RESHAPE, EDUCATE. Gabs Conway (pictured above) has landed in the Chippewa Valley after years spent evolving her craft as a sculptural ceramicist in Montana's fine arts scenes. Today, she brings with her something of a parallel universe, one which turns coil-built and electric-fired "creatures" into a reflection of how viewers can find comfort in discomfort. (Photo by Callan Ravesloot)

It seems Eau Claire remains a magnetic force, drawing creatives – who have found inspiration from its bustling downtown to the quiet prairies that surround the city – in from across the country. Among the newcomers is Gabs Conway, sculptural ceramicist who brings along something of a parallel reality into her work, designed to mirror the unspoken discomforts of our own existences.

Now, planting roots in the Chippewa Valley, she sees gaps in the local visual art culture she believes a newcomer like herself can address.

“It feels like (Eau Claire is) getting ready for its explosion – it’s right on the precipice,” Conway said in a recent interview. “I think it’s a really exciting time to be here; I am excited to try and push those bounds a little.”

The bounds in question? Conway’s ceramics sculptures – which dance between function and form – have become her way to challenge societal conventions, as she brings viewers into the universe inhabited by her “creatures.”

As Conway integrates anatomical elements – such as sets of teeth, expressive fingers and delicate nails – she questions the limits of both hand-built and wheel-thrown clay and in turn, transforms the familiar into something unexpected.

“It feels like (Eau Claire is) getting ready for its explosion – it’s right on the precipice. I think it’s a really exciting time to be here; I am excited to try and push those bounds a little.”

GABS CONWAY

SCULPTURAL CERAMICIST

“So the (creatures) are actually originally derived from weird organ shapes,” Conway said of her larger sculptures, which span up to three feet tall in size. “The weird worm guys, they are originally just supposed to be intestines.

“In my mind it is a parallel universe and I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to put our normalities onto them,” Conway continued.

A recent creature by Gabs Conway, pictured. (Photo by Kasey O'Brien)

Conway's sculptures often introduce hand-built worms, fingers and teeth to functional vessels, as pictured. (Photo by Kasey O'Brien)

Normalities, whether they be gender constructs or the innate discomfort in the “unusual” don’t exist in the parallel world she continues to build. The stories that each of Conway’s pieces hold often appear to her spontaneously, akin to a “flash of lighting,” she said.

It’s been six months since Conway relocated to Eau Claire from Missoula, Mon., where she once resided, partnered and taught at Wildfire Ceramic Studio and The Clay Studio of Missoula.

Though her life’s work took her West to where she was born and raised, the Valley’s clay scenes are also woven into Conway’s artistic evolution; she is an alumna of the University of Wisconsin-Stout, where she graduated with a concentration in ceramics.

“There (are) a couple of professors that I love deeply: Darren Tesar and Kelly O'Brien,” Conway said of her studies at UW-Stout. “Both of them I think really fueled my more artistic brain … and understood me better as an artist rather than a ceramic artist.”

In that period, Conway recalled a defining moment of artistic transformation, when a fine arts professor called her creative output “too conservative” for her true personality. Since then, Conway’s practice has grown from function to a new fabrication of reality – bolstered by the mentorship she experienced in Menomonie and Montana.

Conway's latest addition to her world building: Thumb flies (pictured above). Conway credits much of her creative vocations as an artist to not only faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, but to her parents – who remain in Montana. Her father was an aspiring ceramicist in his early adulthood, a passion which he passed down to Conway. (Photo by Kasey O'Brien)

A new character in her collection of creatures, “thumb flies” which can be seen on vessels including cups, wall hangings, earrings – even textiles – have become an anchor to this universe.

“They are only like a year old, which is just so mind-blowing because they feel so important to me now,” Conway said. “The idea of the thumb fly is that they are camouflaging themselves as different parts of the other monsters.”

“All of the fingers are actually molds I have made of my own fingers, that I now slip cast to make things a little bit faster,” she said.

Conway’s larger sculptures are completely coil-built and hollow on the inside, a technique she hopes to impart to new students of hers in the Chippewa Valley. This spring, Conway became a ceramics instructor at Half Moon Clay (930 Galloway St., suite 117, Eau Claire).

“If we dial it all the way back, I think it is just going back to creating community.”

gabs conway

sculptural ceramicist

Accessibility remains a central theme in Conway’s work and teaching in electric kiln-fired ceramics, an asset intended to complement the fine art knowledge Conway imparts onto her students.

On her social media platforms online – where Conway has amassed more than 100,000 followers – she challenges others to pivot from their notions of instant gratification and acceptance in the tools one does have in front of them.

“It’s okay to grow into things and so, it’s okay if you don’t have all of the tools right away,” Conway said. “I think that it builds into also having your community, having your friends that also want to learn – or maybe your friends have a tool that you can borrow.”

“If we dial it all the way back, I think it is just going back to creating community,” Conway said. 

As Conway continues to explore relationships and community here in Eau Claire, she carries with her a deep sense of loyalty to the place – as displayed by other locals and artists who have befriended her along the way.

Perhaps comfort can be found even amidst unusual moments and new vulnerabilities.

To view previous iterations of Gabs Conway’s portfolio and new creatures available for purchase, visit gabsconway.com. Conway shares ongoing updates in the clay community online through Patreon and social media (@gabsconwaymakesdirt).