Sandra Byers: The Nature of Things

Sandra Byers works in porcelain, creating tiny sculptures that echo natural forms and textures. They bring to mind the sort of treasures one might pocket on a weekend hike: shells and bones, nuts and mushrooms, wasp’s nests, honeycomb, flower buds and feathers. Byers’ precise, clean forms conjure, rather than mimic, these natural forms, seeking their essence. While small enough to fit in your hand, they are imbued with a powerful tension; although Byers’s pieces might be equally impressive on a larger scale, their intimate size creates a strikingly emotional impact.  

 

Byers appreciates porcelain for its strength, delicacy, and translucence. Like shells and flower petals, porcelain “comes to life in the sunlight,” she says. Her newest series is inspired by the Möbius strip, a form that scientists have not yet found in nature. It's a mark of Byers’ subtle genius that her Möbius forms, ironically, seem as natural as a weathered stone.