Emily Counts is an artist who explores organic and geometric forms through a variety of artistic disciplines. Her aim is to document the "transformative, unstable, and energetic properties of our world, while presenting a landscape or object that physically manifests an individual or shared psyche." This has recently taken the form of lush, gorgeous and otherworldly installations that include ceramic representations of familiar objects; candles, plants, etc. as well as intriguing self-portraits. She was finishing up with several pieces when I arrived - ceramic works that take the forms of computers and telephones, utilizing electricity to function in the most interesting ways I've ever seen! The computer pictured below has a two-way mirror and a button which illuminates the geometric forms within.
Though she studied painting at the California College of Arts and the Hochsule der Kunste in Berlin, her work is usually based in tactile, detailed objects that look like rare and precious relics. She paints her ceramic works with white gold (literal gold!) and often depicts damask and diamond motifs within those works. She has shown recently in Portland at The Vestibule and at Place Gallery, as well as several galleries in Los Angeles and Tokyo. She is currently a member of the LA based art collective Durden and Ray, which includes some awesome contemporary artists and really unique work. Emily also makes fantastic ceramic jewelry, which can be seen/purchased locally at Nationale on Burnside.

click to go to Emily's website.