Eva Funderburgh
My work deals with the overlap of humanity and the natural world. I use my simple, emotive animal forms to examine human motives and emotions. Storytelling and the idea of myth plays a very large role in my work, but equally so the notion of biology.
Humans (and their cities) follow the same biological imperatives, the same drive for growth, as flowers, insects, or cancers. I try to examine this notion without pronouncing a moral judgment on it. Hence, my beasts may sometimes carry entire civilizations on their back, though the question of symbiote or parasite is left open. I also use biology in my work to examine some of the more base aspects of human nature as my creations hunt, eat, and squabble over prizes. Like the natural world, we can all be beautiful and absurd at the same time.
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Bio
Eva Funderburgh is a Seattle-based sculptor with a Bachelor’s of Science and Art from Carnegie Mellon University. After earning her degree in 2005, she returned to her birthplace of Seattle where she found her voice through working in ceramics, drawn to its mix of control and unpredictability. Her love of these aspects of clay are especially seen through her choice to wood fire her ceramic sculptures, a communal process that produces unique results. In 2010, she was honored to be an artist in residence in Denmark at the Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center, an experience that inspired her to revisit interest in public installation work which she had begun to developed during her studies.
After the residency, Eva was selected to attend Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture Public Art Boot Camp in 2015. This experience along with the residency expanded the scope of her work to include installation and bronze casting in addition to continuing to develop and push the boundaries in her work in ceramics. She now teaches bronze casting part time at Pratt Fine art Center and is a full time sculptor working in public art, installation, ceramics, and cast bronze. In 2019 she was delighted to return to Guldagergaard for a second residency to help further her practice.
The last few years have been extremely active and exciting. In 2021 and 2022 Eva had solo shows at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in Pittsburgh and the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. In 2023 Eva began building her own wood fired kiln for her sculptures and her colleagues’ pottery, a long awaited goal. A massive endeavor, this project was paid for via a successful crowdfunding campaign that raised more than $45,000. The kiln is nearly complete and should start firing in Spring 2024.