Courtney Mattison: Intricate Ceramic Sculptures for Ocean Advocacy

Courtney Mattison is an internationally recognized artist and ocean advocate based in San Francisco, California. Her work focuses on creating enormous and intricate ceramic sculptural works that visualize the impacts of climate change through the fragile beauty of marine life. Courtney Mattison has a unique background that combines marine ecology and ceramic sculpture, earning her an interdisciplinary degree from Skidmore College and a Master of Arts in environmental studies from Brown University. This scientific foundation informs her meticulous art practice, which aims to bridge the gap between ocean conservation and public awareness. Her large-scale wall reliefs are often composed of thousands of individually hand-crafted and glazed stoneware and porcelain pieces. These works celebrate the complex diversity of marine invertebrates like corals, anemones, and sponges. By sculpting hollow forms and using simple tools to texture each piece, she mimics the repetitive growth of coral colonies. Courtney Mattison often uses vibrant glazes to represent healthy reefs, juxtaposed with stark white glazes that symbolize coral bleaching caused by warming seas. Mattison’s site-specific installations have been commissioned for permanent display in diverse settings across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, including the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia and Christian Dior Couture in Italy. She also collaborates with conservation organizations such as Mission Blue to advocate for marine protected areas. Through her evocative ceramic art, Courtney Mattison seeks to inspire wonder and a sense of urgency in viewers to protect the natural environment upon which all life depends.