Wren Morrocco
I am a ceramics artist who works in mainly functional ware and sculptural vessels. My work reflects my passion and love of nature, I often use materials from the earth such as seashells, rocks, sand and textured bark to add depth and personal connection to my pieces.
I started my clay education in high school, fortunately, I learned from three art teachers in my public school who all contributed to my passion for creating. Encouraged by their kindness, I earned my BFA at Colby-Sawyer College in New London New Hampshire, and studied under David Ernster and Jon Keenan, both master potters of New England. During that time, I also collaborated with the New Hampshire Institute of Art and the Sharon Art Center through community firings, pottery sales, and events. In the winter of 2016, I spent a week in Nepal teaching pottery to students at the Maya Universe Academy.
After graduation in 2017, I spent six years teaching in various public school settings as an art teacher. I worked with students of all ages and backgrounds. Teaching is an important part of my artistic practice. I use that time to inform my personal work but more importantly, developing relationships with others through art creates lasting connections and spreads compassion.
I have dedicated the last four years to developing a thriving ceramics program at Kimball Jenkins School of Art and Community Center. It has grown tremendously under my care and I am proud to say we host over 50 pottery students and 12 independent artists each season.
Currently I am pursuing a masters degree in studio art at Maine College of Art and Design, with plans to graduate in the spring of 2027.
Most recently, I have taken over as Chair of the New Hampshire Potters Guild. Within this role, I aim to build community through ceramics and offer educational experiences to those excited to learn more about the pottery scene in New Hampshire.
Artist Statement
My art practice is a multifaceted exploration of care, rooted in an investigation of human empathy and connection to the landscape. I create work that exists in conversation with my surroundings, allowing context to shape the meaning and deepen the relationship to place. Through painterly surfaces, organic forms, and familiar, symbolic marks, I merge drawing and sculpture into objects that feel intimate and expressive.
It is my mission as an artist to create work through these channels and ultimately exude goodness into the world. This sense of responsibility is deeply personal, shaped by a lifelong desire to feel a sense of belonging without conditions. Alongside this intention is an underlying anxiety - the belief that to be good is to live in constant service of others, and without this purpose, I risk feeling unmoored. My work becomes a space where I can navigate and reconcile these internal pressures. I experiment joining two paradoxical sensations in each sculpture to demonstrate this internal conflict. Joy through bright colors and nostalgic forms, contrasting with discarded found objects like plastic trashbags and wrappers.
In the studio, care is not only a concept but an embodied practice. Clay is my medium of choice, and I approach it with attentiveness and intention, recognizing its capacity to hold both physical and emotional weight. Clay becomes a vessel for my ideas, questions, fears, and memories. Its dual nature, dense yet malleable, strong yet fragile, mirrors human experience and serves as a metaphor for endurance, tenderness, and transformation. I approach each piece as an act of care, holding memory, sensation, and attention within its form. I trust that this care extends beyond the object itself, quietly rippling outward into the world, fostering connection and offering a moment of presence, reflection, and shared humanity.
